Shattered Secrets
by Obsidian Buterfly
Summary: "You lost the feathers." Those eyes… Those eyes held her in place, rendering her unable to move as he stopped in front of her. "You broke." He spoke, his tone melancholic as his hand reaching out to touch her face. "And they stole them."
1. Prologue

Shattered Secrets

Prologue

_Explosions rocked the world around him as the boy struggled to keep pace with the woman running next to him._

"_Mother, what's going on?" His mother gave no verbal response simply grabbing his hand, silently urging him to run faster. The carnage of what had once been their home continued to burn in the raging infernos._

-0-

_A continuous jolting woke the young girl. Puzzled, she raised an arm to her eyes, rubbing at them sleepily. Nope, this definitely was not her room. She tried to get up, failing to notice that she was slipping._

"_Baka!" A voice she knew very well called back to her, as strong arms readjusted her position. "Don't let go of me!"_

_Yes, she knew that voice, as well as the shoulders she was currently holding onto._

-0-

_After a while, the two of them slowed down-not a lot, but enough so that he didn't have to struggle to keep up. "Mother, why did they blow up our house? What did they want?"_

_His mother took a deep, shuddering breath."I don't know, but the important thing is that we managed to get out of there safely. And we have to leave before they find us here."_

-0-

"_Nii-san, where are we going?" The girl asked her brother as he continued down the seemingly-endless staircase. It wasn't the first time she had been down here, but it was the first time her brother had carried her down this way._

"_We're going down to the secret place." Oh…she knew where that was. But she was still confused. _

_After all, her mother and father had told her that that place was somewhere they were only supposed to go when something bad happened. So why were they going down there now?_

-0-

_Finally, they stopped running. The boy gaped at the huge ships that stood before them. "Are we getting on one of those, Mother?" _

_His mother looked around cautiously, raising a finger to her lips and making a soft "shush". Crouching down, she started to make her way behind the crates lining the dock, heading for a small opening in one of the ships, where a pair of men were heading inside with several of the large boxes._

"_Do we need to close 'er up?" He heard one of the men ask._

"_Nah, this one'll do it automatic 'fore takeoff . 'Sides, didja see how annoyed the captain got when I tried to it to open it up earlier. Hates anyone else touching his ship, I bet." The other one answered. He watched the two men as they swaggered past the spot where he and his mother hid. As they left, his mother continued to carefully make her way to the hatch, with him creeping after her. When they reached it, she grabbed him by the hand once more, practically shoving him inside the dark space._

"_No matter what happens, I want you to stay in there, all right? Until it's safe, you have to stay in there. I want you to promise me that."_

"_O-okay." He nodded, a little uncertainly, looking scared. Why were they creeping around in the dark? And where was his father? And what did those men want with them?_

_She grabbed him by the shoulders, all but shaking him as she forced him to meet her eyes. "Promise me!" Her voice was filled with desperation, her fear reflecting in her eyes._

"_I promise."_

_Heaving a sigh of relief she pulled him tightly to her. "I love you. Never forget that." She let him go, pushing him lightly as she pressed a small button next to the hatch, sending a slight vibration through the air as the door came down. _

"_Wait! Mother!"_

-0-

_When they reached the bottom of the staircase, her brother removed her from his back, then strode towards the far wall, where the entrance to the secret place was. She followed, staring up at the ancient runes covering the walls. The first time she had come here, her parents had told her she didn't need to be frightened of the strange marking everywhere, something she completely didn't understand. There was nothing frightening about them…Not when they felt so warm and comforting, the same way her family did. Speaking of which…."Nii-san? Where are Otou-san and Okaa-san?"_

_Her brother froze for an instant, an emotion she couldn't describe flowing over his face. "Don't worry about them, right now we need to get inside." She watched as he drew a small knife from his pocket and pierced the tip of his finger, kneeling down and smearing the drop of blood that had appeared over one of the most recent runes near the bottom. "I'll tell you where they are later."_

_In a way that seemed both instantaneous and excruciatingly slow, the wall in front of them began to change, the stones shifting and forcing themselves away from each other. Suddenly, the motion stopped, forming a doorway barely large enough for two men to stand side by side. _

"_Come on." Her brother took her by the hand, and walked through the door, his footsteps lacking the hurriedness they had when he was heading down the stairs. She wondered if it had something to do with the strange, yet familiar feelings coming from this place. She walked in alongside him, peering at the ruins that were scattered throughout the large chamber. _

_The sibling's feet padded softly along the sand, towards a large pool of water at the far end of the chamber. She remembered her father explaining to her once, when she questioned how it got down there, that the water came from a spring, deep underground. "All right, we should be okay now….But I need you to stay quiet for a little while, okay?"_

"_Okay..." She said, plunking herself down next to the water's edge._

-0-

_He watched as the hatch finished closing, too confused about why she would stay out there to move. Once it shut, he was unable to see anything beyond that which was revealed through a small window. However, as he peered through it, he noticed his mother facing away from him, walking back in the direction they had just come from. _

_He watched, as several men suddenly appeared before her, shouting. Though he could not make out their words, he could hear the anger in their voices. After a few moments they stopped, and he heard his mother's voice, just as desperate as it had been before she put him into the ship. Suddenly, there was silence once more, before he saw one of the men turn away. The man said something so softly that he could barely even hear him speak. His mother remained quiet and the silence was only broken by a sort of strange, loud noise similar to a thunderclap, before she crumpled to the ground._

_He watched as the man who had turned away turn back again, kneeling down to where his mother laid on the ground, before standing up and shouting once more, this time apparently some sort of order, as the men with him started to rummage through the remaining crates on the dock. _

_A rumbling vibration ran through the room as the engine started to hum, signaling that the ship was beginning to depart._

-0-

_She sat at the edge of the water, sticking her hands in and twirling them around, watching as the light flowing through the water changed with the movement of her hands. "Nii-san? I know I promised to stay quiet, but how much longer are we going to have to stay down here before Otou-san and Okaa-san come and get us?"_

_Her brother sighed, and knelt down next to her. He simply sat there for a while, before suddenly turning and wrapping his arms around her. She was shocked. He never hugged her! Well, not never, but it was a very rare thing for him to do. When he finally spoke, his voice was quiet, as if he was on the edge of breaking. "They're not coming."_

"_Huh?" She pushed back a little bit, looking at her brother's face. "Why not?"_

-0-

_As the ship began to lift into the air, he caught one last glimpse her, lying there on the dock, motionless in a pool of some strange, dark liquid._

_And it was then, as the ship blast off through the atmosphere that he realized his mother's fate._

-0-

_She couldn't believe the words that her brother spoke, wondering if it was part f some sort of sick game. But the look on her brother's face told her that it was no game._

-0-

_Two innocent hearts, billions of miles apart, shared the same cry that night._

"_No!"_


	2. On the Run

"After her!" the blonde could hear the voices of her pursuers as she zigzagged through the crowded streets trying not to bump into someone. She could feel the blood running down her side, her breath coming in short ragged gasps as she willed herself to run faster.

She had to get away.

They must not catch her.

They…

BAM!

Uttering a curse under her breath she quickly jumped to her feet, ignoring the sharp pain that shot through her right leg. Narrowed, crimson-colored eyes met her own chocolate orbs.

"Sorry," she panted quickly, grabbing the small diskette that had fallen on the ground next to the entrance of an alley. The man she had collided into was observing her as she quickly looked over her shoulder.

"Spread out men." She heard a voice yell in the distance.

"Fuck." She muttered under breath before closing her eyes and taking a deep breath. It was dangerous, what she was about to do, but she had lost a lot of blood and she wasn't sure how much longer she could keep on running.

Magic was illegal in that world. She would most probably end up in getting tortured and killed if she was caught because there was no way in hell she was going to work for _that_ bastard. She might end up getting tortured and killed anyways because of what she had just stolen but it all depended on _if_ she was caught.

And getting caught was something she wanted to avoid at all costs. So without wasting another moment she murmured a small spell. A warm prickle ran down her spine as the magic did its work.

As she opened her eyes, her irises changed their color to a vivid emerald, her long knee-length blond hair morphed into shoulder length caramel tresses and her skin tone changed from pale to a light honey shade.

Her short skirt and t-shirt altered into dirty brown baggies and black long coat with a crimson halter top underneath. Quickly she shoved the disk into one of the pockets of her clothes and looked at the man who had silently been observing her small display.

She had no idea why she did it but what she did next was something that was what she had resigned herself to doing in her line of work. Even if it went completely against her nature. Maybe it was just her desperation to avoid capture that made her do it but she urgently turned to him.

"I'm really, really sorry but please just play along." She pleaded, not even giving him a chance to react as she pushed him into the alley wall. Not a second later she had crashed her lips against his.

"She can't have gotten very far."

"Please just help me out," She whispered urgently as she pulled away from him for a second to see his shocked face.

And then she was kissing him again.

"Oye! You two seen a blond girl run past here?" they heard a masculine voice question and the girl's body stiffened slightly, but she kept her eyes closed and her lips pressed against a complete stranger's. Her heart thundered in her chest. What if this guy ratted her out?

Hardly anyone would stand up against the government agents these days. This man was probably going to tell them and she was in no condition to fight them off.

Why hadn't she just run away after changing her appearance? These guys didn't know she had magic so they wouldn't have suspected a brunette when they were looking for a blonde.

She had hoped her long jacket would hide the blood that she was beginning to seep through her shirt once more. Even if by some off chance, the man didn't tell them, everything would be over the minute they noticed the blood. They would capture her and then she was going to die a slow and painful death.

She couldn't let them catch her. She would never work for him and the only other option was death.

That bastard used his magic to bind all magicians that were caught. Anyone who tried to fight his seal ended up dead. Their body destroyed by their own magic. Such was the nature of that seal. A perfect weapon to instill fear and control the masses.

But she didn't want to die. Not now.

Not when she had just managed to uncover another missing piece of the puzzle that was her past. That disk, it held the promise of providing her with answers.

She couldn't die before she learnt the truth. She could feel her magic buzzing beneath her skin. Excited at the prospect of an upcoming fight. It would do anything to protect its mistress. That much she knew.

As soon as she made up her mind to fight her way out of it all if need be something unexpected happened. The red-eyed man, that she had completely forgotten about in her moment of panic, responded to her kiss, threading one hand through her hair at the base of her neck pushing her closer for better access as he deepened the contact while his other hand moved possessively over her side, thankfully her uninjured one.

Shocked but not for long, the girl pressed up against him. Maybe she wouldn't have to fight her way out of this one after all. Now, if only that agent tapping his foot impatiently at the side walk would just leave.

"Come along, Roku," The agent's partner chuckled in a mildly amused manner. "I doubt these two would have noticed her anyways."

And as if to answer her silent prayer, a radioed message crackled with a slight static buzz. "Target has been spotted near Wester Walk Lane. Repeat, target spotted near Wester Walk Lane."

Dread released some of its hold from her heart. So her decoy had worked after all.

The girl let out a sigh of relief as she pulled away after the men had left. A pink flush powdering her cheeks as she stepped away from the man.

"Th-thank you," she bowed hastily, turning around to walk back outside into the crowded streets.

Before she could take two more steps, however, the world tilted sideways as someone put the lights out.

-0-

_**A/N: Yeah, so this is chapter one. What do you guys think? Good? Bad?**_

_**Should I continue? (Lol. I think a few people might kill me if I don't but I would still like to know the general response.)**_

_**Oh and small note for all those who are waiting for the Epilogue of Dead. Not to worry my dearies, I haven't forgotten about it at all. The story will be completed on Monday.**_

_**So until then, **_

_**Ja.**_


	3. Terrors in the night

"Mmm…" she groaned softly, a dull throbbing ache attacking her right side while her leg felt like it had been put on hot coals. Dazedly, she opened her eyes, blinking once, twice as the world came back into focus.

Amber with little flecks of gold.

That was the first thing she saw.

The most beautiful, innocent and breathtaking pair of eyes were observing her.

She drew in a sharp breath as the man hovering above her suddenly jumped back before rushing out of the room.

Panicked, she shot up in bed, looking around her with wide, fearful eyes. Where was she?

Had she been caught? Had those agents found her?

What had…

What had happened?

"Ah, good, you're awake." She heard a soft feminine voice speak as the metal door hissed and slid open. A beautiful woman with long raven hair that reached past her knees walked in.

The girl on the bed, looked past her through the open door to see that the corridor outside was made of metal, with small pipes running along one wall. She could also hear the distant hum of engines with faint sounds of music drifting in through the open door.

"How are you feeling now?" the woman asked, not unkindly.

"Where… Where am I?" She ignored the question about her health as she observed more of her surroundings.

The room she was in, was small, with metal walls and floor, even the roof was made out of metal. And there was a small porthole like window, to her right, which displayed a pitch black sky with stars zipping by.

"You passed out in the alley," she answered, "Kurogane told me federal agents were chasing after you and you asked him to help you."

"The red-eyed man?" the girl questioned.

"He brought you to our ship just before we were taking off." The woman nodded as she opened one of the cabinets and rummaged inside. "We're headed to Alpha Centauri 1, but we can probably drop you off at the next space port if you want. I've treated your wounds to the best of my ability but if anything still hurts, please let me know."

"Who are you?"

"My name is Tomoyo," she smiled as she let the panel slide back in place and held up a non-descript bottle. "Painkillers," she held it up and showed her the label, "do you need some?"

"No, I'll…" she drew in a breath, "I'll be fine."

"You're a sorceress." Tomoyo stated more than accused.

"Y-yeah." The girl paled a little but the woman merely laughed, her laughter reminding her of the chiming of bells.

"Relax, we're not gonna turn you in," she shook her head, "the pilot of this ship is a mage." Tomoyo informed her to ease her worries.

"Right, um, thanks." She mumbled, looking at her hands folded neatly in her lap but then a strange prickling sensation made her realize that someone was watching her. Looking towards the doorway, she caught that flash of amber once more but the owner of those eyes quickly ducked behind the door, out of sight.

Tomoyo followed her line of sight and shook her head with a small smile.

"That's Syaoran," she answered her unasked question as she climbed to her feet. "Well, if you need anything just let me know, alright?"

The girl nodded, her eyes catching the man, introduced as Syaoran staring at her through the doorway, but once again he quickly withdrew, the second she looked.

Tomoyo, turned around, near the doorway as though she remembered something. "I'm sorry but I don't think I caught your name."

"It's Sakura." The girl answered a little breathlessly, feeling a strange warmth flood her body as Syaoran peeked inside the room again.

"Alright Sakura, dinner will be served in a couple of hours, I'll come get you when it's ready alright? Try not to move around too much till then."

"Right." Sakura nodded, watching those curious eyes as the door slid close.

Coming out of her reverie, Sakura noticed her black jacket, lying at the back of one of a chair. Slipping her bare feet out from under the sheets, she slid to floor with natural grace, ignoring the cool metal. IT was as she dug around in the pocket of her clothes, retrieving the plastic disk that she realized that she couldn't feel the ache in her side or her leg anymore.

Magic. She realized with a start.

-0-

"And this here is the galley," Tomoyo announced proudly as she led the eighteen year old towards the kitchen. The kitchen table that was bolted to the floor was occupied by a lean, blond haired man who must have been in his mid-twenties, around the same age as Tomoyo. He was dressed in a light blue t-shit and brown cargo pants. Sitting next to him was the dark-haired man that Sakura had kissed on Koryo during her escape.

The third person, was the amber-eyed Syaoran observing her with a curious expression on his face.

"Sakura, you've already met Syaoran," Tomoyo said as she walked over to the small cooking stove riveted to the wall on the right side of the galley, where a pot was placed above the fire. "The guy you kissed, is the ship's captain, Kurogane and next to him is our pilot, Fai."

At the mention of the kiss, Sakura felt heat rush to her face.

"Um, thank you very much for saving me earlier." She spoke softly as Tomoyo opened a cupboard and extracted five bowls.

"Don't mention it," Kurogane answered in a gruff manner as Tomoyo placed a soup ladled bowl in front of him.

"And thank you for taking me off that planet." She continued, "I'll pay you for the trip as soon as I can access my account."

"It's no problem at all Miss Sakura." Fai gave her a charming smile as he took the bowl from Tomoyo. "Oh you shouldn't just stand there, come on and have some soup. Tomoyo is quite an amazing cook."

With a silent nod, Sakura walked over, all the while, aware of those inquisitive eyes staring at her. It was quite unnerving but none of the others found it strange at all.

"Blossom," Syaoran finally spoke, his voice deep but soft. "Blossom Princess."

Sakura's spoon stopped midway to her mouth as she looked up in surprise.

"Huh?"

But Syaoran was quietly sipping at the juice from his glass.

"So, where are you headed to?" Fai asked politely as he dipped his spoon in the bowl.

"Um, I needed to get to Infinity."

"Infinity?" he repeated in mild surprise.

"Yeah, I have," she emptied her spoon, "some things I have to drop there."

"I see." He nodded.

"No Syaoran," Tomoyo warned gently as she reached across the table and caught his hand, right before he took a hold of Sakura's bowl.

"No?" he repeated cocking his head to the side as his eyes looked at Tomoyo in confusion.

"No," she shook her head, "we don't take food from other people. Especially if they are eating it. I'll get you some more soup, alright?" with that she retrieved his bowl, getting to her feet as she walked back to the stove and poured him some more.

"Here you go," she smiled gently as she placed it right before him.

Sakura observed the whole exchange with a perplexed expression but the other occupants of the table ignored her. All except for Syaoran, whose questioning stare was back on her. Immediately, Sakura dropped her gaze to her soup, feeling the strange prickling sensation that one always gets when they know that they are being watched.

"Come on Syaoran," she heard Fai speak in a gentle, coaxing manner after almost ten minutes.

"No."

"Kid, eat your medicine." Kurogane ordered in his baritone voice.

"Don't want to." She heard the youngest of the three males answer.

"Syaoran please. You know it's to help you sleep better." This time it was Tomoyo who pleaded.

"No." Sakura looked up, fixated by the scene as it played out before her. Tomoyo was trying to pass a small pill past his lips but Syaoran had his mouth shut tightly. "Come on Syaoran, please." But the amber-eyed male merely leaned back to avoid taking the medicine.

With a disgruntled sigh, Kurogane shifted in his seat, moving his arm so quickly that Sakura could barely follow its movement before he had it wrapped around Syaoran's arms, slipping his other hands behind his neck to take a hold of his cheeks, pressing them tightly to part the younger man's lips.

The minute Tomoyo slipped the pill into his mouth, the red-eyed man clamped his hand over his captives mouth, forcing the male to swallow.

"I'll do the dishes," Fai offered as he climbed to his feet, speaking so casually as though nothing out of the ordinary had happened.

"Alright Syaoran, time for bed." Tomoyo followed the motion, taking the amber-eyed man's hand and helping him to his feet once Kurogane had let go.

"Let's go Kid." Kurogane took hold of his other arm, leading him out of the galley as Syaoran's eyelids drooped.

Sakura sat rooted in her spot unable to tear her eyes away from the door that those three had disappeared through.

"He wasn't always like that," Fai's quiet voice made her jump.

"Syaoran?" She ventured.

"He's a really good kid," Fai dunked the bowls into the sink.

"What happened?" she couldn't stop herself from asking.

"What happened?" Fai repeated in a distant voice. "To whome?"

"To him. Syaoran I mean."

"He… He had an accident." The blond answered, closing his golden eyes as he took a deep steadying breath, "an accident that trapped the mind of a child in the body of an eighteen year old." The way he said it, Sakura knew better than to press for further details.

As much as she wanted to know what might have transpired, she knew it wasn't her place to ask.

That night, she climbed back into the bolted bunk bed, pulling the covers over her face as silence reigned throughout the ship.

-0-

"No!" Sakura woke to the sound of terrified yelling, her heart hammering against her ribs as she heard hurried footsteps outside her door. "No! Dooon't!"

"Kid!" she heard Kurogane shout.

"No! Let me go!" Syaoran. She realized. It was Syaoran that was yelling.

Throwing the covers off her body, she jumped to her feet, hurrying outside into the corridor, listening to pinpoint the place where all the noise was generating from.

"Mother!" Syaoran screamed, "Father!"

The bunk to her right.

Swiftly she made her way in that direction, freezing at the sight that greeted her eyes.

Syaoran was thrashing around in Kurogane's hold, his face white with fear, sweat drenched chocolate-colored bangs plastered to his forehead as he struggled against the red-eyed man. His pupils were dilated, amber eyes wide as they darted in all directions, like a cornered animal's.

"No! No! Let me go!"

"Kid! Calm down, it was just a dream." Kurogane grunted as he struggled to maintain his grip on the fighting teen along with the blond pilot. Fai was holding down his legs while the captain was pinning Syaoran's arms to the bed.

"Excuse me." Tomoyo said a little breathlessly as she raced past her into the room, a hypodermic needle filled with some sort of translucent liquid, in her hand.

"Father!" his screams echoed all around Sakura, a throbbing pain attacking her head. Blinding flashes of light, images of a burning inferno, sounds of people screaming in pain had Sakura panting. Her whole body was trembling as flash after flash passed through her eyes.

"W-what's happening to me?" she questioned weakly, hearing Syaoran scream in a different world altogether.

Slowly the images blurred, the sounds faded and she was made aware of her own shivering body. Looking up she realized she had slid to the floor but no one had noticed since everyone was still occupied with Syaoran, who was whimpering softly.

As Sakura got back to her feet, she watched Tomoyo put the syringe, now void of its contents, on the table next to Syaoran's bed. The only sound in the room now was his raspy breathing as he curled up into a ball.

Completely shaken by what had just transpired, Sakura returned to her bunk, before anyone noticed her presence, sliding back under the covers, noticing her sweat damped hair for the first time.

What had just happened?

-0-

_**A/N: I'm supposed to be studying right now but since I couldn't concentrate, I decided to take a little break and put this up.**_

_**Wonder what might have happened to Syaoran? And what went wrong with Sakura near the end?**_

_**Guesses anyone?**_

_**Drop by the review room and let me know what you think, k?**_

_**Do you want me to continue? (I already know the answer to **_**that**_** but I wanna hear you guys say it. You know you want to.) I want to get at least five reviews for this chapter before I update once again. Oh and just so you know, I already have the next one written out so the faster my demands are fulfilled, the faster you get to find out what happens next.**_

_**Fai: It's not very nice of you to hold you stories for ransom.**_

_**Me: Oh, so you finally decided to show up.**_

_**Sakura: He's not the only one. What the hell did you do? First you killed off Syaoran in 'Dead' and now you've made him crazy?**_

_**Me: Crazy? *smiles innocently* Did I say that?**_

_**Sakura: No, but that's what you are implying isn't it?**_

_**Me:*shakes head* Sakura. Sakura. Sakura. You should know better than to assume things when it comes to me. Implications don't mean anything.**_

_**Kurogane: Oh yeah, then what the hell did you do to the kid?**_

_**Me: you'd like to know, wouldn't you Kurgy?**_

_**Kurga-lurga: MY name is K.U.R.O.G.A.N.E, get it through that thick skull of yours, woman.**_

_**Me: I know that.**_

_**Kuro-bunny: Then why the *&^% don't you use it?**_

_**Me: Now, now Kuro-buro, mind your language, there are children reading this story.**_

_**Mokona: But isn't the rating for this 'T'?**_

_**Me: Yeah, so?**_

_**Sakura: Then how can children be reading it?**_

_**Me: what do you consider yourself?**_

_**Sakura: *frowns* I'm eighteen in this story. I'm not a kid anymore.**_

_**Me: And you saying that just proves that you are.**_

_**Kuro-meatloaf: What kind of logic is that? And wait a second… ***__**reads his name**__*** MEATLOAF?**_

_**Me: what? *innocently slurping on noodles* I'm hungry.**_

_**Kuro-noodle: *once again reads the name and draws Ginryuu* That's **_**it**_** you crazy author! Die!**_

_**Me: *steps to the side and sticks foot out***_

_**Kuro-clumsy: ***__**fails to see the foot in blind rage and ends up smashing his face into the closet wall**__*****_

_**Me: *kicks the door close and locks it, hiding the key***_

_**Everyone: 0_0;**_

_**Me: *still slurping noodles* hmm… I should have done that ages ago.**_

_**Sakura: Um… are you sure it's a good idea to lock him in there?**_

_**Me: Yup. What's the worst that can happen?**_

_***crickets chirping***_

_**Me: ***__**ignoring the colorful nicknames bestowed upon her by an angry vengeful ninja currently locked in a closet**__*** so anyhow, till the time we meet again, this is it. Nims is outta here.**_

_**Fai: *sweatdrops* since she forgot to mention this herself, to all her readers of 'Dead', the epilogue for dead will be uploaded in a few hours as a celebration for her freedom from studies for two whole months, during which time, hopefully, she will pay attention to those other neglected stories of hers as well.**_

_**Sakura: Please don't forget to review, I really don't want Syaoran to suffer more at her hands.**_

_**Mokona: Speaking of Syaoran, where is he?**_

_**Everyone: ***__**looks to the corner of the room where a small trembling ball is visible**__*****_

_**Syaoran: *lifts head* Is the crazy lady gone yet?**_


	4. Under Attack

"Hello," Syaoran smiled warmly the minute Sakura walked into the galley the next day.

"Um, hi," she said a little awkwardly, noticing the way his eyes were observing her, with innocent, child-like curiosity. "How are you feeling?"

Syaoran simply cocked his head to one side, his expression changing to one of confusion.

"Oh, erm, right, I'll just…" she started but trailed off when she heard the teen speak.

"Feathers."

"Huh?" she responded intelligently.

"You lost the feathers." He answered as he stood up, slowly walking towards her as she stood rooted to her spot.

She couldn't move. Those eyes…

Those eyes held her in place, rendering her unable to back away as he stopped in front of her.

"You broke." He spoke, his tone melancholic as his hand reaching out to touch her face. "And they stole them."

A sudden chill ran down her spine as his hand drew closer and closer.

"Stole what?" she found herself asking.

"Memories." Was all the answer she got before the spell was broken by Fai's arrival.

"Syaoran, no." the blond took his hand and led him back to the table. "We don't trouble passengers like that." He was telling him but Sakura barely heard the man.

_Memories._

She found her breath coming in short rapid gasps, her heart racing as blood pounded in her ears as she ran back to the safety of the cabin.

"H-how did he know?" She sank to the floor, unable to get the image of his face out of her head as the door slid close behind her.

-0-

_Dark. Everything was so dark. She pulled her jacket closer to her body as she hurried her footsteps._

"_Where are you going, kid?" a drunk man sneered at her, exposing his sunshine yellow teeth._

"_N-nowhere." She answered in a hoarse voice, her throat burning with the effort. Lowering her head, she broke out into a run._

_She was alone, and scared, with no place to go._

_The screams of her friends and family, all those people that she once knew, echoed all around her._

"_M-mother…" a sob tore through her chest as thunder rumbled in the distance, making her jump in fright. _

Promise me!

_A woman's panicked face flashed before her in the brief burst of lightening overhead. _

"_Mother." she called again, but the apparition vanished as soon as it got dark again._

_A dog howled somewhere followed by the cries of its cousins. She forced her tiny legs to move faster._

_A cat streaked through her path and she fell on her rump with a startled yell. Something landed on her shoulder with a plop and her body froze. Another something fell and she could feel its wetness on her cheek. She looked up and saw another droplet fall from the heavens._

_It was starting to rain. Slowly, she pushed herself back to her feet and looked around._

_No one was around. Everywhere she looked, things were tall and dark and empty. A flash of lightning lit up the sky for a fraction of a second and in that moment she saw a shadow slink towards her._

_Without even waiting to see what it was, she started running again._

_She had to find someone. _

_Someone, anyone._

_She could feel eyes all around her. Watching her from dark confines of the shadows. Observing her, waiting for her to make a mistake so that they could drag her away and make her a part of them._

_A light flickered in the distance, drawing her towards it. The wind howled and rain pelted her back, she was soaked through but she couldn't bring herself to care as energy began to leave her body as she slumped on the gritty ground beneath the lamp._

_The water that had pooled about her caught her reflection in the light._

"_Oye! Kid." she heard someone yell but she couldn't bring herself to respond. The face that was staring back at her was not her own. "Kid! You okay?" someone was approaching her but she couldn't move._

_Those eyes._

_The eyes that stared back at her were not emerald._

_No. They were a unique shade of amber._

_Amber that was flecked with little specks of gold._

"_Kid?"_

_Everything faded to black._

Sakura shot up in bed, breathing hard. The sheets were twisted about her body. The dream, still fresh in her mind as she untangled her body and looked around. She was still on the ship.

Still breathing hard, she blinked a couple of times as though daring the room to vanish when she closed her eyes. That had been so vivid. And for the first time in her life, she could actually remember it.

But she was unnerved.

Those eyes had been so familiar. And they had been staring at her so intensely. Like the person knew she was watching them.

But it was just a dream, right?

"Damn, I think I need an aspirin." Sakura groaned as short while later as she shuffled into the galley, pulling the cabinet open to extract a glass that she filled with water from the dispenser before heading over to the table.

Setting the glass down on the table before her, she sighed and let her gaze wander outside the porthole-like window of the ship.

Glowing clouds of gas with twinkling stars that were born inside them took up a major part of the night sky.

They were crossing the _Nebula Foresuto_. Or the Forest of Nebulae.

It had been a little over a week since Sakura had boarded the ship, _Little __Dragon_ as Fai had fondly called it. The ship was a small but sturdy freight-carrier and had a couple of spare cabins available for passengers.

During her time onboard, she had gotten to know the four who lived there.

Fai had been the pilot for the ship for a period of little over a complete cycle. He had a happy-go-lucky sort of attitude though he could be quite charming when he wanted to and was quite friendly and easy to talk to.

The ship's captain, Kurogane was a quiet sort of guy who didn't talk much, mostly kept to himself though she could tell that he cared deeply for the other three. Maybe not so much about Fai but Tomoyo and Syaoran for sure. It was probably just because the golden-eyed blond loved to annoy the captain to hell.

Then there was Tomoyo, the ship's cook as well as the medic. She was sweet and a little eccentric but that was it. She generally kept herself busy by performing the various chores, like cooking, cleaning, washing and stuff. Because of her, the whole ship had a homey feel to it.

And then, last but not least was Syaoran. The boy was an enigma. He was eighteen cycles old, same as her, but his actions were like those of a child. Over the week, Tomoyo and Kurogane had also mentioned him having an accident that led to his current condition but no one ever bothered to elaborate and it wasn't her place to ask so she remained quiet.

Out of all four, he was the one that intrigued her the most. His days were normally passed by following Tomoyo around the ship as she worked or with Fai in the cockpit. Sometimes she would spot him with Kurogane, silently observing the older man as he would go down to the engines room or the cargo hold.

There were times when he would do nothing but sit by the porthole and stare outside at the endless night sky, for hours at a time. He didn't speak a lot. In fact aside from that one time when he had spoken about the memories and feathers, he had not spoken to her at all. But she would catch him looking at her every now and then.

She had been weirded out by his staring at first. She would feel a sudden prickle of hot and cold run down the back of her neck, every time she could feel his eyes on her and that made her uncomfortable. Because whenever he looked at her, she would hear him say those words again.

_You broke… And they stole them…_

It was almost like he could see into her very soul. Know things about her that not even she herself knew. The idea of it scared her. Which was one of the reasons she tried to avoid running into him as much as she could for the first couple of days, even if it meant having to stay locked up in her cabin hunched over her laptop, trying to decode the files she had stolen from the last planet.

She didn't have any luggage on her when she had run into Kurogane but magic can be a very useful thing. Especially when it comes to storing things.

Things continued on in this way, with her trying to evade the young man, until one day, during dinner, she heard him laugh. It was a soft, quiet sort of chuckle at something that Fai did to mess with Kurogane but she heard it. And judging from the reactions everyone else had to it, she knew that it was a very rare occurrence. But knowing that he still possessed the ability to laugh put her at ease. It made him seem more… normal and she learned to ignore his inquisitive, silent stares.

A sudden jolt rocked the whole ship and sent her rocketing into the metal table. The glass slipped from the top and crashed on the floor, shattering into hundreds of tiny little pieces.

"What the -" her enraged cry was cut short when a second shock hit and the small vessel lurched. Jumping to her feet, ignoring her tender stomach, she rushed towards the front of the ship.

"Mage!" she heard Kurogane yell as he emerged from his cabin, dressed in a pair of grey slacks and a black t-shirt, his tousled hair letting her know that he had been asleep. A hatch in the roof of the corridor opened and the blond pilot jumped down, landing on the metal floor with cat-like grace.

"On it." The blond pilot affirmed seriously as he ran towards the cockpit, the captain a couple of steps ahead of him. Tomoyo emerged from the same cabin as Kurogane, dressed in a simple knee-length nightgown, her long hair pulled back in a braid.

A distant explosion sounded and Tomoyo's face grew pale.

She breathed a single word before she raced in the direction of Syaoran's cabin.

Dread extended its icy hands and clenched tightly at Sakura's heart.

_Pirates._

_**A/N: Am I evil or am I EVIL? ;) ;)**_

_**I left you guys hanging on a cliffie. Isn't that great?**_

_**Sakura: Pirates? Seriously, is that the best you could come up with?**_

_**Me: Pirates are very important in stories set in outer space, fyi.**_

_**Sakura: Oh yeah?**_

_**Me: Yeah. Besides, I like having pirates in space.**_

_**Sakura: *sweatdrops***_

_**Fai: I hope the ship doesn't get blown apart.**_

_**Me: Blown apart? *looks thoughtful* hmmm… now that's an interesting idea.**_

_**Sakura and Syaoran: *glares at Fai***_

_**Fai: *gulps* W-wait a second Nims. You're not really considering doing that, right?**_

_**Me: Ohohoho…*excitingly rubbing hands* Blow up the ship!**_

_**Sakura: Did you **_**have**_** to say that Fai?**_

_**Syaoran: Aahhh… The crazy lady will kill us all!**_

_**Me: *raises a brow* Crazy lady?**_

_**Syaoran: Run for your lives! *starts running around in circles***_

_**Me: Now wait just a second here. Crazy lady?**_

_**Syaoran: She'll kill us all!**_

_**Kuro-biscuit: *finally manages to pry the closet door open* Ah. Free at last. *looks over at me* Now to get my well deserved reven- ooof! *gets thrown back in the cupboard thanks to Syaoran who collided with the door and is now lying motionless on the floor***_

_**Sakura and Fai: Syaoran!**_

_**Syaoran: …**_

_**Sakura: *glares at Fai* Look at what you did!**_

_**Fai: *gapes* Me? What did I do?**_

_**Sakura: If it wasn't for you and your big mouth, the crazy lady-**_

_**Me: *indignantly* hey!**_

_**Sakura: *ignores* -the crazy lady wouldn't have gotten the idea of blowing up the ship, Syaoran would not passed out on the floor by colliding with the closet door currently holding Kurogane at bay.**_

_**Fai: *grumbles* It's not my fault she likes to pick on him so much that he is now traumatized for life.**_

_**Me: Yes it is.**_

_**Fai: How can your liking to torture him more than me be my fault? *adds in an undertone* not that I'm complaining or anything.**_

_**Me: *shrugs* I dunno.**_

_**Sakura: Aren't you the one who should?**_

_**Me: and the point is?**_

_**Sakura: *throws up her hands in frustration* I give up. It's pointless to argue with her.**_

_**Me: *smiles smugly* Took you long enough to figure that out. *looks at the unconscious Syaoran and grins widely* Now, back to the blowing-up-the-ship plan.**_

_**Fai: *begins to slowly back away* Syaoran is right. You **_**are**_** crazy.**_

_**Me: *glares darkly* I'm sorry?**_

_**Fai: *gulps* Damn it! Me and my big mouth.**_

_**Sakura: *in a smug sing song voice* Told you so.**_

_**Fai: *turns on his heels* Ahh… Run for your lives! The crazy lady is out to get you!**_

_**Me: *watches Fai running around in the same circles as Syaoran* I wonder if he will-**_

_**Kuro-trapped: *throws the door open* now to get my reven- ooof! *once again thrown back in***_

_**Me: *completes the sentence*-crash into the door like Syaoran.**_

_**Kuro-badluck: *muffled scream* Damn it!**_

_**Fai: *groans* my head…**_

_**Me: *shrugs* oh well. Now. Where was I? *thinks* Ah yes. The blow-up-ship plan.**_

_**Sakura: I think I agree with the others.**_

_**Me: *scribbles down notes as quickly as she can while singing in an off tune voice* blow up ship. Blow up ship. Blow up shiiiippp…**_

_**BOOM!**_

_**Lolz, so, how'd you like it? Drop by the review room and let me know. Oh and another five reviews before the next update. Trust me when I say this, you **_**don't**_** want to wait to read what will happen next so hurry it up people. ;)**_


	5. The Cursed Mark

_**A/N: I'm sooo sorry for making you guys wait. Even though it only took you guys a day and a half to review the required number of times (should I up the number, hmm? ;) ) I failed to update. But I have a **_**very**_** valid reason for the delay.**_

_**My laptop got confiscated. :'( So yeah, I haven't been able to write any further than chapter seven and the bunnies are killing me! Well, they were for the first couple of days, now they are just sort of thinking about going into hibernation mode. I really hope they don't.**_

_**Anyhow, I really love you guys for all the positive responses so this chapter is dedicated to all my reviewers and Miss talkstoangels77 for all her help and patience.**_

_**And now, without further ado, please go ahead and enjoy!**_

A distressed cry came from the direction Tomoyo had gone in and her mind quickly linked it with Syaoran. Was he having another relapse like the one she had witnessed on her first night onboard? If so would Tomoyo be able to handle him all by herself? After all, it had taken both Fai _and_ Kurogane to hold him down the last time.

"No!" she heard him scream as she neared his cabin which was all she needed to confirm her suspicions.

"It's okay," Tomoyo was crooning gently as Sakura emerged at the doorway but before she could properly see inside the cabin, the ship lurched abruptly to the right and her startled cry added to Syaoran's cry of fear. Tomoyo climbed to her feet at the same time as Sakura who was thrown inside the room. The door slid close behind her. "Syaoran, it's me Tomoyo." She cautiously approached the boy who was currently pressing himself into the wall in the furthest corner of the room, his face chalk-white, eyes bloodshot and wild, his breath coming in short irregular pants.

"They're… They're coming…" he whispered, "They're coming…"

"No one is coming, Syaoran." Tomoyo's voice was soothing, gentle and motherly as she stepped closer to him but he just shrank even further.

The ship suddenly turned sideways, throwing all three of them against the right wall, Sakura hitting her side with enough force that she was sure there would be bruises there in the morning. Syaoran barreled right into Tomoyo, though she still heard the loud smack as his head collided rather painfully with the metal.

He gave a cry of fear tried to scramble away from Tomoyo who had acted quickly and wrapped her arms around him, pulling him close to her, cradling his head against her shoulder as he struggled.

"Ssh… ssh…" she patter his head gently, running her hand through his hair in a motherly fashion, "it's okay. I'm right here. Nothing will happen to you."

"They're going to take me back…" he whimpered, weakly fighting against her.

"No they're not." The older medic told him firmly.

But before he could respond, the ship dove in a tight corkscrew, sending the three of them tumbling around the walls, the floor and the roof, Syaoran once again yelling in terror. When the ship straightened out for a while, Sakura noticed that Tomoyo still had maintained her hold on him, not once letting go of the younger male despite all the hits she took.

"Let me go!" he screamed, hitting the raven haired woman as he tried to push her away.

"Syaoran, it's me, Tomoyo," she replied in a calming tone, ignoring the fists that struck her.

"They'll take me back!" he cried hysterically, his arms and legs thrashing about wildly.

Another explosion lurched the craft, flinging them across the room, where Tomoyo ended up hitting Syaoran's bunk, her grip on him immediately loosening as she slumped down like a marionette with its strings cut loose. Sakura could see a trail of bright crimson blood, slowly making its way down her porcelain face.

She had hit her head.

"No…" he breathed, his horror easily coloring his tone as he stared at the unconscious medic with eyes wide as saucers. "No." His voice grew louder and hoarser as he screamed. "No!"

Another roll and Tomoyo's body was tossed towards Sakura who immediately grabbed the older woman's hand and pulled her towards her.

The brunette then looked over at Syaoran to see how he was holding up and noticed how badly he was trembling. His eyes were fixated on the spot Tomoyo had been laying in, a small splotch of red staining the floor and it was this that held his gaze. Sakura was at a complete loss on what to do when all of a sudden the amber-eyed male fell on his knees with a groan clutching his right forearm.

"I don't want to go back," he moaned, his eyes rolling to the back of his head, as he shivered.

A second later, Sakura could feel it. A thick, formless, colorless haze of magic permeated the room. It's aura was deadly and lethal, chilling Sakura to the bones. She gave a startled gasp as its tendrils skimmed the surface of her magical core, the touch feather light as it analyzed her magic.

The ship was spiraling once again, but she barely noticed it, her mind too occupied with the conscious prod of that strangely familiar energy. Sakura knew she had never encountered that aura before but it seemed to recognize her, wrapping itself around her slowly, almost lovingly.

A sharp stab of pain went through her right shoulder blade, making her gasp as a shrill whistling sound filled her ears and her eyes watered. It burned! Like someone was pressing a white hot poker to her flesh, branding her like one might have done to the cattle a couple of millennia back. _That_ mark was acting up again.

She felt herself unable to draw a breath as the burning grew in intensity but all of a sudden a cool, soothing aura enveloped the spot, nullifying the effect of the magic. The magical haze caressed her magic longingly one last time before it too, withdrew.

Sakura gasped, greedily gulping down air as the world around her grew silent.

Sakura was beyond confused. Whose magic was that? She had not been able to discern any sort of ill will in that aura, despite its dangerous nature. So then, why had its touch set off the mark on her shoulder? The only magician on board was Fai. Did it belong to him? She was pretty sure she had never met the man before. But why did it feel so familiar? Like she the owner was someone she should know.

Was he, perhaps, someone from the past that she couldn't remember? Had she maybe known him before her amnesia. But if that was the case, then shouldn't he have recognized her when they met? She would have to ask him.

A dull throbbing prickled her right shoulder blade making her aware of the presence of the cursed mark on her body. For a second she tensed, but the soothing aura was still at work, keeping its excruciating effects at bay so Sakura relaxed, her eyes roaming around the cabin.

Things seemed to have calmed down so they had most probably lost the pirates. The door beeped and slid open, Kurogane appeared at the threshold, Fai right at his heels.

"What happened?" he took in the scene with narrowed eyes as he approached her, "why are they both out cold?"

"Both?" she looked past him towards Syaoran and noticed that, indeed, he had passed out on the cold floor. The blond pilot turned around and left the room.

"I'm not sure what happened to Syaoran but Tomoyo hit her head," she answered only just realizing that she was still clutching the bed frame. Hastily, she dropped her hand.

Without another word Kurogane picked up the unconscious woman and placed her on Syaoran's bed before moving over to the unmoving teen, repeating the action. Fai appeared a short while later, a first aid box in his hands.

"I'll check on Syaoran," he offered the captain, handing him a wad of cotton, some disinfectant and a roll of white sterile gauze.

While the red-eyed man tended to the injured medic, Sakura observed Fai with a light frown marring her features. He extracted a hypodermic needle from the box, filling it up with a light brown liquid. He slipped the needle under Syaoran's skin, earning nothing more than a small whimper from the teen as it was injected in his body.

Sakura noticed a small circular tattoo on the arm that younger male had been clutching before. She couldn't see it very clearly from where she stood but she took note of the single black circle, the surface of which was broken by a patch of clear skin in the shape of two long, large, mirror shaped images in the middle. They were similar to an elongated 'c' along the bottom but the top extended upwards, finishing in a point similar to the shadow of a bird's extended wing.

Her frown deepened, she was pretty sure there had been four of those 'c' like shapes a short while back, when Syaoran was having his episode. Her eyes then travelled to Fai's face. She looked at him closely. Nothing about him struck as familiar. She couldn't recall ever having met someone with hair the shade of gold like his.

But then again, she _did_ seem to be missing quite a lot of her memories of the time before the age of sixteen. In fact, the only thing that she could remember was her name and nothing else.

The pilot sighed and placed his hand in top of the younger's head, observing him with a saddened expression. Feeling her gaze on him, the blond turned his golden eyes towards her with a questioning look.

"Have we ever met?" she decided to get it out of the way, "Before?"

"Met before now?" he repeated as something flashed behind his ochre orbs but it was gone so quickly that Sakura thought she must have imagined it. He shook his head, "No, I don't think so."

"Oh," she tried not to let her disappointment show but some of it must have leaked into her tone before Kurogane was now observing her just as closely as Fai. "Um, I think I'll head off to bed now." And before either of them could respond, she had raced out of the door.

She didn't know why but she felt frustrated and let down. It wasn't like she had been hoping to suddenly find the answers, right? Besides, there was still that code she had to crack. The one her associate had promised held some of the answers to what she was looking for.

Her shoulder pulsed, once again getting uncomfortably warm but she ignored it, letting the door slide close behind her before pulling her t-shirt off. Standing in a midriff undershirt and a pair of loose pajama's she walked over to the window that let her see the sky outside. Her pale refection stared back at her, the front of the right shoulder an angry red color. Pulling at the straps of her shirt, she scrutinized the mark.

A set of seven black pairs of wings outlined by a black circle were overlapped by a white circle, which was outlined twice in black. The outer circle had four pairs of interlocking stems branching out from the two sides with a much longer more complex, solitary black shaft extending downwards. While the wings pulsated and gave off a dull red glow, the overlying symbol glow a pale blue its tendrils flowing like water, completely covering the wings.

Slowly, both the glows dulled out and the symbols reverted back to their original form. Breathing hard, Sakura stumbled backwards till her knees collided with the bed and she fell backwards.

Outside, she heard quite footsteps in the corridor outside, telling her that the others were now going back to their own rooms. Feeling troubled by the sudden activation of the curse mark, she turned on her side, but, like always, sleep did not come easily to her.

_**A/N: So, there you have it. What do you think? **_

_**Sakura: *sighs in relief* You didn't blow up the ship.**_

_**Me: Blow up the ship? Nah. It's way too early for that. First I gotta kill off Kuro-dead, then get Syaoran kidnapped, then have him get tortured while you and Fai try to desperately search for him, then Syaoran has to go insane and then-**_

_**Fai: Um, I think you've got the wrong story.**_

_**Me: *surprised* I have?**_

_**Tomoyo: Yeah. Kurogane died in 'Dead'. You better not kill him here or…**_

_**Me: *frowns* I thought you were out cold.**_

_**Tomoyo: I woke up when I heard you mention killing Kurogane.**_

_**Me: Oh.**_

_**Fai: And besides, Syaoran is already insane in this one.**_

_**Me: Right you are, Fai dearest.**_

_**Fai: *yelps and hides behind Sakura* She's giving me that crazy-lady look again.**_

_**Sakura: *ignores him* What exactly happened to Syaoran?**_

_**Me: That I shall reveal in the next update. But before that, I want ten reviews!**_

_**Everyone: *glares***_

_**Me: *steps back* okay. Okay, um… how about nine?**_

_**Everyone: *still glaring***_

_**Me: alright… eight?**_

_**Everyone: *glares some more***_

_**Me: Seven! That's final. And your evil glares won't work on me cuz I'm… I'm eviler.**_

_**Tomoyo: *sweatdrops* uh… Nims. There is no such word as eviler.**_

_**Me: *sticks out tongue* It is now.**_

_**Sakura: *facepalms* And she called **_**me**_** a kid.**_

_**Me: Yeah, well being mature all the time sucks. *sticks out tongue at Sakura* so there.**_

_**Fai: *shakes head* I can't believe she's twenty.**_

_**Kuro-escaped: I can safely say the same for you what with the way you normally act Mage.**_

_**Fai: But I'm older than her.**_

_**Kuro-not-paying-attention-to-me: Exactly.**_

_**Fai: And what- *interrupted by a delighted squeal***_

_**Tomoyo: *exclaims* Digicam!**_

_**Me: *grins* That's right! *dances* I got a brand new DSC-W330! ~And I'm on cloud nine.**_

_**Mokona: Since Nims is too busy fawning over the digicam with Tomoyo, it is up to me to tell Mokona to end this A/N. Nims promises to try her level best to update as soon as her demands-**_

_**Fai: *sniffles* Meanie.**_

_**Kuro-still-not-noticing-Nims: *looks at Sakura* See what I mean?**_

_**Sakura: *sweatdrops* Yeah.**_

_**Fai: H- *interrupted by Mokona***_

_**Mokona: *clears throat loudly* Anyway! As Mokona was saying as soon as Nims's demands are fulfilled, she will update. **_

_**Sakura: though thanks to her laptop, **_**still**_** not with her all the time, there might be a small delay.**_

_**Mokona: But she hopes that you will be able to forgive her for that since the circumstances are not in her control. **_

_**Nims: That will be all. I'd be glad to answer any questions you might have as long as the answers are not spoilers for the upcoming chapters. Till next time.**_

_**Ciao!**_


	6. What Happened?

"How are you feeling now?" Sakura asked as Tomoyo walked into the galley the next day. The raven haired woman had a couple of band-aids covering the gash on the side of her forehead.

"Aside from a killer headache," she gave a small laugh, "never better. What about you?" She asked as she walked over to the stove and turned it on, taking out a kettle from one of the cabinets.

"Me?" the brunette repeated.

"Yeah, you slept in pretty late, so I was wondering, were your injuries bothering you again?" she asked as she poured water in it, "Would you like some tea?"

"No thanks," the eighteen-year old shook her head, "And, um… My injuries are healed."

"Really?" the medic sounded impressed. "I didn't know you were a healer too."

"Healer… oh." it took a few second for her to comprehend what Tomoyo meant, "No, I'm not." She laughed, "I think it was Fai."

"That can't be right," Tomoyo frowned. "Fai can't perform healing magic."

"Are you sure?" This piece of information surprised the jade-eyed girl. She had been pretty sure it was Fai, since she couldn't heal either.

"Yeah," the older woman nodded, extracting a small packet of tea leaves, emptying the contents in the kettle before covering it. Silence reigned for the next few minutes till it was broken by the shrill whistle of the steam escaping from the spout.

"Tomoyo," Sakura spoke quietly once the older woman had settled on the seat. The lavender-eyed medic looked at her with a polite smile, "I know it's not really my place to ask…" Sakura's fingers worried the long sleeve of her shirt as she avoided the other's eyes. "But… What…" she drew in a deep breath, steeling herself to say the words, "what happened to him?"

The raven-haired beauty lowered her gaze as the smile left her face, her expression growing dark.

"I'm sorry," Sakura picked at a stray thread, "I know you guys told me he was in an accident but, who are _they_? The ones he is so terrified of."

"Seven cycles ago," Tomoyo sighed, "Kurogane found him alone in the rain, a little ways away from our shelter, near one of the spaceports on Nihon. He was unconscious and running a very high fever. He was only eleven at the time. Syaoran, I mean." Sakura looked up to notice that the woman was now staring outside, at the passing stars, her gaze distant. "We treated him as best as we could and tried to find his family, but he told us that they were all killed in a raid at his home planet. His mother had hidden him in a departing cargo ship that brought him to Nihon."

"Our home," Sakura noticed Tomoyo's fingers tightening their grip around the handle of the mug of tea, "was destroyed in a pirate raid when I was fourteen. Only Kurogane and I survived, so I guess he reminded us a little of ourselves. So alone and vulnerable… It took a little bit of persuasion on Kurogane's part but we took him in."

"He was very different back then. Intelligent, brave, kind hearted," Tomoyo smiled, lost in another world altogether, "and very helpful. He used to go to work with Kurogane, doing little odd jobs here and there. It wasn't much but we used to get by just fine."

"Then one day, a couple of weeks before he turned fifteen," Tomoyo's knuckles grew white from the force she exerted on the cup, Sakura was surprised that it had not broken by now, "he just vanished without a trace. No matter how much we searched and where we looked, we couldn't find him."

"Around three months later, Kurogane got it into his head that he had been kidnapped and taken off the planet. We both loved Syaoran like our little brother so there wasn't much I could do to dissuade him, not that I wanted to anyways when all our searching had lead us to nothing. So using what little savings we had, we bought this ship. We started travelling from planet to planet in hopes of finding him but to no avail. Two whole cycles went by and still we didn't get so much as a small drift of him."

"Then one day," her voice grew choked at this point, "while delivering some cargo in Infinity, we found him… In the marketplace… he was with Fai when we came across him." a small rueful smile adorned her lips, "Kurogane immediately attacked Fai, thinking he was the one who had kidnapped him."

"Obviously, Fai fought back, not even knowing why he was being attacked. The way they both fought, they nearly destroyed half the market. It wasn't until they both were nearly ready to rip each other's throats out that we all noticed Syaoran. Scared, trying to sink into the wall he was pressing himself up against, whimpering and crying. We both tried to go to him but he just shrank away from us."

"I don't think I've ever seen Kurogane look so…" she trailed off, a single tear trailing down her side of her face. "In the end it was Fai who managed to calm Syaoran down. The only one who knows what happened to him is Syaoran himself and he is in no state of mind to tell us. We have no clue as to whom kidnapped him or what they did to him, all we know is they completely destroyed his sanity." Another tear escaped her eyes, taking the same path as its predecessor, hanging at the tip of her chin.

"I'm sorry," Sakura said in a small voice, feeling guilty for having brought up a topic that was clearly painful for her.

"It is only natural to feel curious." Tomoyo shook her head before looking down at the cup in her hands. She gave a small laugh followed by a sniffle, "The tea is cold. I think I'll make some more." She said as she climbed to her feet, "Are you sure you don't want any?"

Understanding that the older woman needed some time to herself, Sakura politely declined and got up to leave when Fai arrived in the vessel's kitchen, Syaoran right on his heels.

"Tomoyo, Kurgy told me to tell you that we'll be stopping at Clow for a couple of days," he announced, "his _Little Dragon_ needs some repairs after what happened last night so let me know if we are running short on supplies…" he trailed off when he took in the appearance of the two females onboard.

Tomoyo's eyes were slightly puffy, while Sakura had a small, guilty look on her face, but he decided not to question the reasons behind it being so.

"I'll check and let you know what we're running short on." Tomoyo nodded, busying herself with washing the mug in the sink. She dried her hands after putting it back in its place before turning around to give a gentle smile to Syaoran. And then, she was gone, leaving Sakura behind to watch her receding back.

_**A/N: So, what do you think? I finally revealed what happened to Syaoran… or not. ;)**_

_**But you guys got **_**some**_** idea about what might have happened, right? Right?**_

_**Anyhow, next chapter, the story picks up the pace. A little bit of Syaoran-cuteness and Sakura-badassness. (lol)**_

_**Here's a little preview to motivate you guys to review some more. **_

"For the use of illegal, unrestrained magic," The hunter recited, "You have the right to remain silent and anything- Ooof!"

Sakura jumped to her right, bounding off the alley wall like a predator ready to sink its claws in the flesh of its prey. The next second, the man was slumped on the gritty side walk, unmoving and pale, a steady stream of crimson flowing from the gash on his throat. "Sorry," Sakura said as she straightened up after cleaning the blade of her throwing knife on the shirt of the now dead hunter, "but getting captured is not part of my to-do list for the day."

_**If you wanna know what else happens, you know the drill. The more you review, the more I will be motivated to update faster.**_

_**By the way, I know you people must have developed your own theories on what might have happened to Syaoran and I would love to hear them. (Rest assured that I am **_**not**_** saying that because I need ideas or anything cuz I already have it all written out. Yeah. That's right. I do reveal the truth, but it might be a few chapters before we get there. Some things need to happen first.) I just want to know how many of you managed to get close to what I have in mind for our dear old Syaoran.**_

_**Alright. So that's it for now. **_

_**Until next time.**_

_**Ciao! **_


	7. Clow Bazaar

_**A/N: Alright so I updated. But can anyone tell me why is it that the number of reviews I get on any chapter never exceed 5 with the exception of chapter four where the number was 6. (Boy, do I sound ungrateful or what. *Shot*) **_

_**Anywho, as promised, this chapter has a badass Sakura and an adorable Syaoran (at least for me and my editor.) **_

_**Now on with the chapter.**_

_**Enjoy!**_

The sun shone brightly in the clear blue sky and Sakura could feel the effects of its heat. Sweat trailed down the sides of her face as she stood at one of the busy intersections of the bazaar near the Clow spaceport.

All around her, locals and spacers alike were bustling about, hurrying to finish off their business so that they could get out of the sweltering heat. Stall owners and vendors were busy trying to advertise their products, shouting out the names of various items to attract customers.

Wiping the saltine water to prevent it from dripping into her eyes, Sakura peered about her, mindful of Kurogane and Syaoran walking a couple of feet ahead of her.

Tomoyo and Fai had separated from them around half an hour back, since Tomoyo needed to restock the galley and needed Fai to help her carry the purchase. Kurogane on the other hand was making his way towards the part of the bazaar where spaceship repair and spare parts workshops were located.

The pirate attack had damaged the _Little Dragon_ quite a bit and Kurogane did not deem it safe to travel further without getting the necessary repairs. Syaoran was tagging along because the eighteen year old could not be left alone on the ship for the whole day. Right now he was walking on Kurogane's right, watching everything around him with a delighted look on his face, his eyes round in amazement as he took in their surroundings. It was pretty clear that the boy had not seen anything like this before.

Sakura, on the other hand, was walking behind the pair, with a thoughtful frown on her face, scrutinizing everything as though trying to figure something out but not being able to put her finger on it.

She knew she had never been here before, but for some reason, she could not shake of the feeling that she knew this bazaar. Had she perhaps been here before she had lost her memory? She looked to her right and saw an old man selling lobster-apples piled high on top of a wooden cart.

His eyes always crinkled when he laughed.

Now how the hell did she know that? She had never met the man before.

"Would you like to buy a lobster-apple, Miss?" the old man looked up when she approached him and gave her a smile. His eyes crinkled just like she remembered.

Wait a minute… Remembered?

"Do I know you?" she asked, her frown deepening as she scrutinized the worn out lines of his face.

"I'm sorry, Miss," he laughed good-naturedly, "but I can't seem to recall having met anyone with eyes as blue as yours."

Blue eyes?

Oh. That's right. She had changed their color right before she had left the ship. It was necessary to avoid detection by the scanners that hunters had put up in all parts of the town. Her eyes would be matched immediately.

Sakura never _could_ understand it, since she had never gone out on a job as herself. She always took care to alter her appearance through magic but her real appearance had somehow been saved in the hunters' databases. Why else would she end up getting chased by them more than half the times she went out as herself? In order to avoid that, whenever she was on a planet under the rule of the Bat Lord- Fei Wong Reed- she would always change her appearance.

"Oh," she looked to her right and noticed that Kurogane and Syaoran had stopped walking a little ways ahead. "Um, no thank you." she shook her head, turning away from the fruit seller to make her way over to the captain and his charge. "Not right now."

"Ice-cream?" She heard Syaoran ask expectantly. As she neared the two, she could easily make out the hopeful look on his face as he peered at his red-eyed mentor. Both his hands were worrying the hem of his shirt.

"Kid," the captain started in a gruff voice, attempting to give him a stern look to match. Sakura watched on in amusement as Syaoran's lower lip began to tremble, his wide, honey-colored eyes staring longingly at the ice-cream parlor to their right.

In her brief stay on the ship, Sakura had learned that it was very hard to sway the captain once he made up his mind to do something, but the look on the chocolate-haired boy's face was something apparently not even the stone-hearted Kurogane was able to resist.

"Fine." He sighed, shaking his head as the amber-eyed male's face immediately transformed into a wide grin, his eyes shining in excitement as he hurriedly towards the door.

Once at the entrance to the quaint little shop, the eighteen year old stopped and looked over his shoulder, wordlessly questioning the captain on why he was not moving when there was ice-cream to be had. A deep chuckle emitted from his throat as Kurogane crossed the street and led his adoptive brother into the shop.

Sakura observed them as the two approached the counter and Syaoran excitedly pointed out the flavors that he wanted. She shoved her hands deep into the pockets of her baggies, the fingers of her right hand closing in around the familiar texture of a plastic diskette. Turning her back towards the pair inside the shop, Sakura made her way down the zigzagging streets towards a café t that provided inter gal-net services.

She had been working her ass off to crack the codes that kept the stolen files safe, but so far she had little, next to no luck whatsoever, in decoding the data. So now, she was heading over to the café to get this information to the only person she knew of that was capable enough to do the job.

Stepping into the cool, air-conditioned building, Sakura pulled off her cap as she headed towards a booth at the far end of the shop. Slipping in a few coins into the slot next to the door, she eased it open, punching in the expected amount of time that she needed to get her job done.

A hollow-screen flickered to life before her and displayed a startup menu.

Murmuring a small spell that scrambled all monitoring devices attached to that single communicator, she inserted the disk into the ridge near the top of the projector as the hollow-screen flickered once more before displaying the image of a pale, pixie-faced blonde with soft, chocolate-colored eyes and a warm smile.

"Sakura," she greeted warmly, "How did it go?"

"Better than expected," the currently blue-eyed girl smiled back, "the data was right where she said it would be."

"That's good to hear." The blonde nodded, "So, what are you doing on Clow?"

"Long story, I'll tell you when I get back, Chi," the brunette replied as her fingers flew across the virtual key-board attached to the hollow screen. "I'm sending you a few files that I need you to crack by tomorrow."

"Got it." Chi turned her head to the right of the screen to watch something Sakura couldn't see.

"I'll come get them in twenty four hours then." Sakura let her fingers dance on the virtu-pad.

"I'll let you know if she has any other jobs for you," the blond informed her.

"Of course." The blue-eyed, brunette smiled. "Tell Yuzuriha and Chun-yang I said hi. I'll try to get to Infinity as soon as I can."

"Will do," Chi nodded. "Take care of yourself, alright?"

With that the screen flickered out of existence as Sakura retrieved the disk and placed it back in her pocket. Murmuring a simple spell, she exited the booth, hoping that no one detected the small magical surge that had been a product of her small, private inter gal-net chat.

Once upon a time, Clow was the safe-haven for magical beings everywhere but around a decade ago, give or take a few cycles, it was conquered by the Bat Lord. The whole royal family was assassinated. No one survived. And now, because of the change of leadership, it had become a quite dangerous place for magicians, wizards, sorcerers, mages and witches.

A long while back, before Sakura was even born, a law was passed by the Bat Lord that declared the use of magic as something illegal. In a lot of places, mostly the planets that fell under his jurisdiction or under the jurisdiction of his associates, this law was immediately put into effect.

All magical beings had to register with Bat Lord and get branded by his symbol which ensured their loyalty to him. There were many planets that opposed this law, protecting the magical humans, providing refuge to those who fled and helping those who tried to resist.

But sadly, one by one, they were all conquered. The law was modified. Anyone caught practicing magic was to be brought before the federal agents, aka the hunters. The ones that got caught were branded, their freedom taken from them the instant the mark of the Bat was burnt into their skin through magic. Those who tried to resist the effects of the seal died a slow, painful death.

There were rumors of magicians powerful enough to resist the killing effects of the seal but that's all they were: rumors. Even if there was some truth in them, Sakura was pretty sure that those magicians would be rendered powerless as a side effect of the resistance. After all, one had to have exceptional skill and mental strength to keep their own magic from destroying them. Sakura had read about resisting seals and knew that that in itself required strong magic. So the existence of such magicians was an impossibility in Sakura's eyes.

Heaving a quiet sigh, Sakura walked through the quickly emptying streets of Clow Bazaar.

She wondered why everyone seemed to be in such a hurry. Shop vendors were busy gathering their products while the few who sold their produce on wheeled or hover-carts were busy making their way out of the marketplace. Women were hurriedly dragging their children along while men seemed to be equally anxious to get out.

Sensing something wrong, Sakura ducked into a small alleyway that led towards a park that she had spotted on her way to the Bazaar earlier on, when she had been with Kurogane and Syaoran. She remembered how Syaoran had stopped walking when he had seen kids and teenagers fooling around on hover-boards.

She had caught the sad look in Kurogane's eyes as he had watched the younger male observe the children with a wistful look on his face. But then the captain had taken hold of Syaoran's hand and led him to the market.

It was towards that park that Sakura was currently headed but around ten feet from the exit of the alley, her path was blocked by a pair of burly, thick muscled, hunters.

"Freeze." Ordered one of them as he held up his badge. "You are under arrest."

"For the use of illegal, unrestrained magic," The hunter recited, "You have the right to remain silent and anything- Ooof!" he flew across the street and crashed into the wall of a shop that sold hover-boards. His partner let out an enraged cry, aiming his gun at Sakura but the brunette erected a magical barrier to prevent the shot from harming her.

Leaping to the side to avoid the second blast shot at her, she lowered her shield and sprinted to close the distance between her and the hunter. When she was four feet away, Sakura jumped to her right, bounding off the alley wall like a predator ready to sink its claws in the flesh of its prey. The next second, the man was slumped on the gritty side walk, unmoving and pale, a steady stream of crimson flowing from the gash on his throat. "Sorry," Sakura said as she straightened up after cleaning the blade of her throwing knife on the shirt of the now dead hunter, "but getting captured is not part of my to-do list for the day."

_**A/N: And that marks the end of this chapter. Something unexpected will be heading you way in the next update so if you want to know what it is, you know what to do. ;)**_

_**Review if you thought Syaoran was adorable when he convinced Kuro to buy him ice-cream.**_

_**Review if you squealed when you thought Syaoran was adorable when he convinced Kuro to buy him ice-cream.**_

_**Review if you-**_

_**Kuro-annoyed: Alright! Alright! They get the point. Stop wearing it out.**_

_**Me: I'm not wearing it out. I'm just telling them to-**_

_**Kuro-angry: If you say that one more time, I am not gonna care about how crazy you are.**_

_**Me: oh? And what will you do Kuro-pattie?**_

_**Kuro-meatball: Pattie? *reads his name* Meatball?**_

_**Me: *shrugs innocently* I'm hungry.**_

_**Kuro-spaghetti: Stop mutilating my name you crazy ****!**_

_**Me: Hey! I am **_**not**_** a ****!**_

_**Kuro-kebab: Yeah you are.**_

_**Me: Am not.**_

_**Kuro-egg salad: ****!**_

_**Me: Stop it!**_

_**Kuro-ice cream: ****!**_

_**Me: Kuro-cupcake!**_

_**Kuro-fondant: What the hell?**_

_**Me: Hey! That's the title of my fic, Kuro-mango.**_

_**Kuro-grapes: ****!**_

_**Me: Is that all you can say?**_

_**Kuro-ladyfinger: *wtf face***_

_**Fai: *mutters* This is gonna be a while.**_

_**Me: *grins* Kuro-ladybug**_

_**Sakura: *groans* Not again.**_

_**Kuro-ballerina: *draws sword* DIE!**_

_**Syaoran: *still eating ice-cream* Chocolate. Yum!**_

_**Me: *runs* Kuro-butterfly!**_

_**Mokona: Why don't we just end this A/N before things get messy?**_

_**Kuro-kitty: Die! Die! DIIIEEEEE!**_

_**Sakura: That's a good idea but only Nims can end the A/N.**_

_**Me: Kuro-pretty!**_

_**Mokona: Oh but Mokona can use Mokona's secret technique number 23. 'Ending A/N against the author's will.**_

_**Kuro-pink: *screams in rage* I HATE pink! **_

_**Sakura: *gulps and looks at the pink dress* I- I… I think I see Chi over there. I'm gonna go say hi. *bolts***_

_**Me: Kuro-pinky!**_

_**Fai: Mokona, shouldn't we specify the minimum number of reviews for this chapter first?**_

_**Mokona: *ignoring Nims and Kuro-pinkpinkpinkPINKKK in the background as they demolish everything* Hmm… how about seven?**_

_**Fai: *nods* That seems like a fair amount.**_

_**Mokona: So seven it is. the next update will be when Nims gets seven reviews.**_

_**Crash!**_

_**Me: Na Na *sticks out tongue* Can't catch me!**_

_**Fai: *flinches at the following crash* Which shouldn't be hard considering the number of Favs and alerts this fic has gotten.**_

_**Mokona: *nods* So then should Mokona end the note?**_

_**Fai: Yes please.**_

_**Kuro-dressed-in-pink-tutu: *looks at his clothes* what the FUCK?**_

_**Me: *laughs manically* and that is the power of an author in the world of A/N!**_

_**Kuro-volcano: *erupts***_

_***Screen blanks out***_

_**Mokona: Due to the bloody and violent nature of the events that follow, this note is now being terminated.**_


	8. Eluding Capture

_**A/N: Alright. I give. I'm updating at six reviews.**_

_**Kuro-food: You should be happy you got reviews at all. And STOP ADDING FOOD TO THE END OF MY NAME!**_

_**Me: Um… Don't we normally reserve this banter for the end of the chapters?**_

_**Kuro-foooooooooddddd: STOP IT!**_

_**Fai: Yes. We normally do.**_

_**Me: Then why is Kuro-food over there making us all have one right now?**_

_**Sakura: No idea. But hurry up and end this so the readers can go ahead and read all about my awesome fighting skills!**_

_**Everyone: 0_0;**_

_**Me: Ahem. Yeah. Okay. So um…yeah. Let's not keep you guys waiting and on with the show! Don't forget to leave atleast six reviews or I won't update.**_

_**Kuro-foodyfoodfood: Why I oughta- *gets shoved in a closet* **_

_**Me: *ignores the curses directed at her* ON WITH THE SHOW!**_

"Fuck." Sakura cursed under her breath as she ducked to avoid another blast of magic sent her way from one of the hunters coming after her. She leaned a little to the front, urging the hover-board- that she had acquired from the shop she had sent one of the hunters hurling into- to go faster as she darted through the deserted streets. Those bastards had somehow linked the scrambling spell to her and were currently coming after her.

There was no way, no way in hell that she was going to let herself get caught. Even if it meant killing the ones after her, she was not going to let them catch her. After all, hunters were the ones who willingly swore fealty to the Bat Lord. In other words, they gladly sold their souls to the devil.

Thunder rumbled in the distance as clouds rolled overhead, darkening the previously sunny skies. One of the most unpredictable things in Clow was the weather. One minute it was all bright, hot, and sunny, and the next it was dark and humid followed by the sky splitting in half to pour torrents of rain from the heavens.

Earlier, she had changed her appearance to that of a woman in her early thirties with knee length ebony hair and brilliant onyx colored eyes that complemented her porcelain skin. The look was of someone she had seen only in a recent dream but it was the first thing that came to her mind as soon as she had gotten away from the street where the first two hunters lay dead.

Sadly, her guise had not worked since the remaining hunters had still managed to pick her out from the thinning crowds a few streets over. Had they somehow managed to track her magical signature? If so, which seemed to be the case here, she was in real trouble.

A drop of water landed on Sakura shoulder as she leaned to the right, easily dodging another shot aimed to bring her down. Closing her eyes, she concentrated on releasing a small blast of magic, one that was enough to knock a few of her pursuers off their hover-boards.

However, in her effort to knock her followers down, she failed to notice the hunter coming up from the street to her right. By the time she realized her mistake, it was too late.

The blast of magic hit he hover-board she was riding on and it blew up into hundreds of pieces, sending Sakura flying across the length of the street, landing on the ground in a painful heap. Her long raven hair spread about her body as the band holding it in a high ponytail broke. It whipped about her pale face as she climbed to her feet, flicking out a pair of throwing knives into her hands from the sleeves of her high collared shirt.

The howling wind picked up, bringing with it the fresh scent of rain, as the drops began to fall faster.

By now, around twelve hunters had surrounded her, cutting off all possible escape routes. She would have to fight her way out. Spotting the black, ring shaped tattoo with the symbol of a bat in the middle on the arms of seven of the men encircling her, she quickly surmised that escape would be difficult, if not downright impossible.

But she did not show any outward signs of it having affected her.

"Looks like it's your funeral," she gave them a feral grin before rushing forward, dropping into a roll when the man before her sent a binding spell in her direction. Placing her hand on the ground Sakura lifted both of her feet in a double side kick, catching the hunter viciously in the stomach. Feet back on the ground, she leapt up, flipping over the second hunter who had moved up behind the first, slashing at the back of his neck with one of her knives as she landed. The hunter landed in a dead heap, blood pooling around his body.

But Sakura didn't wait to watch it soak the ground in crimson. Her right arm shot out, stabbing the first hunter in the throat as he straightened. He landed next to his partner with a choked gurgle, eyes rolling into the back of his head as he bled to death. Sakura let herself not feel any remorse or guilt at having taken yet another life, because in the end the hunters were better dead than alive for all those magical folk out there.

And besides, even if they were working for the bastard against their will, death was a million times better than a life of slavery. That's what she always told herself. The first time Sakura had killed a hunter had been almost three cycles ago and even though she had done it in self defense, she had been shaken beyond belief.

But for some reason, her body seemed to gain a mind of its own, every time she had an encounter. The killing just happened. She had tried to go for the non-vitals, but no matter what she did, her opponents always ended up dead. After a complete cycle or so of trying not to kill, she had given up. She couldn't stop herself. So now, all she did to try and spare their lives was avoid fights.

If they persisted…

They couldn't blame her for not trying.

Sakura ducked under a kick from another hunter while the rest of the hunters moved in on her. Using magic to boost her strength, Sakura jumped upwards at an amazing speed, turning around on the spot in a ruthless spin kick. Her foot made contact with the head of another one; the satisfying crack that followed told her that she had successfully broken his neck.

Another down, a whole lot more to go.

She flipped over the dead body, her left foot burying in the face of a hunter who was around the age her Nii-san would have been.

Nii-san?

What the heck was a Nii-san? And how did she know that word?

A fist slammed into the back of her head with incredible force, leaving Sakura reeling where she lay face down on the ground. All questions about the foreign word flew out of her mind. She could worry about that later.

Forcing herself to ignore the sudden headache, Sakura pushed herself off the ground as the rain plastered her hair to her face. Pushing them out with one hand, she realized that she had lost both her knives.

"Damn it!" she hissed angrily, realizing that the hunters, though wary of her, were still moving in to corner her. She was so screwed.

"Mother?" A familiar voice cried in shock.

Sakura's whole body stiffened.

What the hell was he doing here? Wasn't he supposed to be with Kurogane? Eating ice cream?

Out of the corner of her eye, she saw Syaoran's pale, wide-eyed face behind a couple of hunters.

"Shit!" A kick with the speed of a snake striking, Sakura threw one of the hunters out of her way before she dashed in the amber-eyed brunette's direction. Where the hell was Kurogane? If the hunters associated him with her, he was screwed over just as much as her.

And the poor guy was in no state of mind to defend himself, or even understand the dangers he was putting himself in, just by _being_ there.

Two hunters moved in her way to intercept her while another one quickly started scanning his Netcom link-pad.

Sakura flicked her left wrist, letting one of her throwing knives fly. It whizzed through the air and embedded deeply in the right hunter's neck. The second hunter flew at her with an enraged cry as two more moved in. Sakura wove among their attacks with ease and grace, turning and twirling with smooth snake-like twists. Grabbing one of the hunters by his wrists, she spun around swinging the unfortunate man along, using his body to strike another hunter, throwing them both to the ground. Without even looking, her knives made short work of them.

"It's him!" the hunter that she had seen consulting the link-pad cried as around twenty more hunters arrived.

"Damn!" she hissed, letting her irritation show, "This place crawling with them."

"Mother…" Syaoran's scared voice reached her ears, making her whirl around to see that ten of the new arrivals were moving towards him, with their weapons drawn.

"Oye! Why are you bastards picking on an innocent civilian?" she yelled, hoping to draw their attention on her. _Where the heck was that damned red-eyed captain?_

But those guys paid her no mind. She quickly assessed her situation and realized that in her concern for the amber-eyed male, she had somehow failed to notice the remaining hunters moving in on her.

Uttering another curse, she called on her magic. A soft, pink aura surrounded her body as she fueled a spell that would take care of all her opponents at the same time. Unfortunately, more than half of them were magicians who called upon shields to protect themselves and their partners from the heavy onslaught of sharp, cherry-colored shards that rained from the sky along with the water.

Lightening split the darkened sky and thunder rumbled loudly.

"No!" Sakura glanced at Syaoran and saw that he had his back pressed to the wall of a closed store. "M-mother…" His scared eyes were darting between her and the hunters that separated her from him. His face was pale as a ghost, with dark, almost black bangs sticking to his forehead and lips trembling with cold and fear.

One of the hunters shot a tranquilizer at Syaoran but Sakura managed to erect a shield in front of him only a split second earlier, raising another one around her own self as the hunters surrounding her opened their fire as well.

Why were they going for Syaoran? Clearly, they could see he was not a threat so then…

A bolt of lightning crashed into the shield protecting her and glowing pink screen shattered under the magical attack. Sakura dropped to the ground, feeling the darts whizz past her body as the hunters kept firing. She rolled to her right, jumping to her feet with an angry snarl as she called on a deadlier spell. Finer, more needle-like shards the color of diluted blood rained from the heavens, piercing right through the hastily erected shields of her adversaries.

Five men dropped dead as blood oozed out of the holes in their bodies. A sharp pain went through her right leg and shoulder. Looking at the hurting spots she noticed the small darts sticking out of her body.

"No!" she gasped, feeling their immediate effects as her magic receded and her body grew weak.

The shield around Syaoran shattered who fell to the ground at the same time as her, clutching his tattooed arm to his chest, small whimpers of pain issuing from his mouth. Sakura felt her legs and arms grow numb, all feeling leaving her muscles as she tried to move.

A burly, big, muscled hunter roughly picked her off the ground, moving her arms behind her back so that his partner could place handcuffs on her wrists.

"No!" she struggled in his grasp, "lemme go, you bastards."

"Shut up," her captor growled as he shoved her roughly against the wall, burying the darts deeper into her shoulder, making her cry out in pain.

"Aaargh!" one of the hunters screamed as Sakura felt a thick, suffocating, magical aura permeate the air. It was the same as the one on the ship, the one that she had felt during the pirate attack. Seconds later the man holding her had let go, making her drop on the rough pavement, grazing her cheek along the wall in the process.

Sakura felt the aura cocoon her body, dulling the effect of the tranquilizers enough to allow her a chance to turn on her side. She could only gape in shock at the scene before her, once she did.

Four hunters lay on the ground around Syaoran, all of them sporting severe burns on their bodies. But it wasn't the fact that they were dead that shocked her. No. It was Syaoran.

The amber-eyed eighteen-year-old was curled up in a ball on the muddy street, cradling his right arm as he scrunched up his eyes, his whole body trembling. A pained scream tore from his throat as a dark, forest-green aura surrounded him.

Sakura's heart skipped a beat.

That deadly, suffocating aura…

It…

It belonged to-

"Syaoran…" Sakura watched with bated breath as the remaining hunters all converged on him, their gun drawn at his kneeling form. Before Sakura could even so much as shout out a warning, they shot at him. As though alive with a mind of its own, the aura flared and the tranquilizer shots were incinerated the second they made contact.

"What the- oof!" the hunter who had started to speak was slumped against a couple of trash cans.

"Die." A cold, emotionless voice reached Sakura's ears and all she could do was watch in horrid fascination as a hand reached out to grab the unconscious hunter's neck. A crack sounded and the man's head lolled uselessly over his chest, displaying to the world that he was clearly dead. Dropping the corpse, the attacker turned around and stared at the remaining hunters with a face devoid of all emotions.

_**A/N: Alright, so can anyone tell me what just happened? Who is this mysterious attacker that just saved our favorite TRC characters?**_

_**Go on, take your wildest guess. Some of you are bound to get it right, right? Free cookies and Kuro-food for all who review! ;)**_

_**Kuro-food: *screams in rage while attempting to break down the steel reinforced door he is locked inside* LET ME OUT OF HERE AND I'LL SHOW YOU FOOD!**_

_**Me: Nah. I don't think I will. Anywho, I'm not really in a mood for a chat with the voices in my head so yeah, I'm gonna end the note here. I hope you enjoyed this update.**_

_**Till next time.**_

_**-Nims.**_


	9. Another Side

_**A/N: And here's an update. Enjoy!**_

_Dropping the corpse, the attacker turned around and stared at the remaining hunters with a face devoid of all emotions._

"Get him!" the burly hunter that had captured Sakura screamed in fury as he and the rest of the hunters attacked.

The assailant brought his arms to his chest level, clapping the palms of his hands together. A blinding blue light issued from them as he drew them apart and a sword materialized in the space created.

He sprang from his place like a voracious animal. A hunter ran towards him, magic sparkling from the tips of his fingers as he readied a spell while the attacker swung his sword. The hunter's magic shot out towards him in the form of barbed tendrils of dark energy and the blade of the assailant's magical sword cut through the air, reflecting the brilliant lightening that split the sky.

What came next happened so fast that Sakura barely had time to register it.

Faster than lightening flashing across the sky, the attacker dodged every single one of those spiked vines, slicing through them with practiced ease. Before the sliced strands could even hit the ground, he was he was crouched atop the unmoving body of the hunter, who had a gaping gash running across the length of his torso starting from the tip of his shoulder blade and ending some near his pelvic region. Blood oozed out of the wound, mixing with the rain and creating a puddle of translucent crimson.

A bolt of magical lightening shot at him, but he did not move from his perch. It struck and the corpse of the dead hunter flared up in a blazing inferno.

"You idiot!" The burly hunter at the only mage left alive in the group of hunters. "We were supposed to bring him in _alive_."

Sakura found herself unable to breathe as she stared at the flames in horror. The aura was still present, caressing her magical core, coaxing it out to expel the drug from her system but she had seen its owner become a victim of that lightening attack. Shouldn't the magic have died out with the master?

Did it mean that he was still-

"Raitei…" the emotionless voice provided her with the answer long before he stepped out into open view. With the forefingers of his left hand pressed near the tip of the blade, he took a couple of steps closer to the five hunters that remained. A slight narrowing of his eyes to express his distaste was the only bit of emotion she witnessed on his face as he completed the spell, "…Shourai."

Lightning, similar to the one that had incinerated that corpse of the hunter crackled and flashed towards the mage who was frozen in place with fear. The magical attack caught him dead on and Sakura was sure that his dying screams would haunt her for the rest of her life as he got burnt alive.

The remaining hunters snapped into action, opening fire at him but just like last time, the forest green aura flared to life and took care of the darts. In less than a second, three of them were down, with only the burly giant left alive.

"I need more back up damn it!" the hunter hissed into his com-link as he observed his opponent with wariness.

"No amount of back up will keep you alive," the lack emotions in his tone made a chill go up Sakura's spine as she watched him approach the hunter. Fei's pawn was no match for the embodiment of a ruthless killer and the hunter knew it. He would be dead before he could even lift his gun if his opponent wanted but for some reason he was drawing it out. Like a cat playing with a mouse the killer played with the hunter.

Despite knowing that he stood no chance, the hunter decided to avail the small opportunity he had been given. He shot at the killer who all but lazily flicked his sword to deflect all the darts. Sakura wondered if the gun had been upgraded to magical cartridges since the hunter had not even once stopped to reload it.

This went on for a couple of minutes before the sword sliced through the barrel of the gun like a hot knife through butter. The hunter's blood splattered body and the destroyed gun both hit the ground at the same time. Thunder rumbled overhead and a squeak of fear escaped Sakura's throat.

Then there was silence and she heard nothing except the splattering of rain and the sound of her own heart hammering against her ribcage as blood pounded in her ears.

He relaxed his stance, lowering his sword as he turned around and Sakura found herself staring into a pair of detached, unemotional brown eyes. He took a step towards her as his brow furrowed and Sakura hurriedly scrambled back. Not that she could back away much, thanks to the fact that her hands were still tied behind her back and she was still lying on her side. But she tried to get away anyways until her back touched the wall behind her.

"Who are you?" he questioned as he walked towards her but his tone was still blank, rendering her unable to guess at what he might be planning to do to her.

She opened her mouth to answer but her voice got stuck in her throat.

"Who are you?" he repeated and if there had been any emotion in it, Sakura would have placed his tone as impatient.

"I-I…" her whole body felt frozen with fear although the chilling rain had probably contributed to it as well. Her lips were numb as she tried to form the words but all she could get out was a stuttered whisper. The aura left her core and began probing around in her mind for the information it was looking for making her feel lightheaded and dizzy. "S-stop…" she breathed, "pl-please…"

Immediately, the probing stopped but the aura did not back out.

Sakura could not tear her eyes away from the amber eyes, so unlike yet similar to the inquisitive ones that had been staring at her for more than a week. She could see the question lurking somewhere deep within their blankness as they searched hers. Something stirred inside her and she let out a pained moan as the curse mark on her shoulder grew scorching hot. Her vision swam as tears filled her eyes but then all of a sudden, as quickly as it had all began, it stopped as the soothing coolness of the seal placed on it enveloped her shoulder. Sakura blinked and let her gaze travel down to the arm that was holding the sword, taking in the black, circular tattoo and her breath caught in her throat. The pair of identical mirrored C's that adorned the middle of the tattoo had increased in number to five pairs, each one smaller than the last.

Her mind reeled.

Syaoran had _magic_. And he was acting like an entirely different person.

What the hell was going on? Why had the tattoo changed?

And the sword…

Oh God!

Syaoran had a sword _sealed_ into his body. A magical sword no less.

Why…? Why did he have a sword sealed into him? Had it been done willingly?

Or had whoever kidnapped him done this to him?

But why would his kidnappers give him a weapon like that?

Everyone knew it hurt like hell when a weapon was sealed into a human's body and it hurt a thousand times worse when it was summoned but Syaoran had not even so much as flinched when he had summoned his sword.

Whe…

Her train of thought's came to a halt when she felt the deadly aura vanish from her mind, making her look up only to witness Syaoran's eyes roll to the back of his head as he collapsed near her legs. A newer, more familiar aura of a weak mage approached them. But Sakura's eyes stung too much for her to keep them open long enough to see who it was.

However getting a feel of the sky blue aura that came their way, she instantly knew who it could be. She heard a hurried pair of footsteps approached them and in less than a minute the owner of that magical signature towered above them.

_**A/N: I bet you weren't expecting that, were you? It was Syaoran all along.**_

_**I'd like to know at which point you guys realized it was him. I'll try updating faster next time, but I'm not making any promises. I hope you enjoyed this chapter, please leave a review and let me know. Feedback and criticism is always welcomed and appreciated.**_

_**Till next time.**_

_**Ciao!**_


	10. Secrets Revealed?

"Sakura, what happened here?" Fai quickly crouched next to Syaoran and rolled him on his back, looking over his body for injuries. "Did _you_ kill all those hunters?"

"S-Some…" She tried to answer, not bothering to wonder how he knew it was her, but her voice was nothing more than a weak whisper. "S-some of them." she finally managed to get out.

"Some? Who killed the others?" he inquired, still busy looking over Syaoran. Sakura felt Syaoran's aura flare up for a moment before receding completely. Fai's eyes flicked in her direction and for a second, she thought his pupils were the color of the clear sky, but he blinked and the concerned orbs that looked at her were still gold. He helped her lean against the wall before he climbed to his feet to look for the key to unlock the cuffs around her wrists.

"It was…" she was having difficulty forming the words. Despite the falling rain, her mouth was dry, her tongue completely numb and her throat parched. "It was Syaoran."

Fai's whole body froze as he reached out for a pair of fallen keys near the corpse of a hunter. Straightening up, he turned around to face her, his features pale and his eyes wide.

"What?" he breathed, looking at her incredulously.

"I don't know what happened. One minute he was clutching that tattoo, screaming in pain and then his aura flared up and the next thing I knew he was slicing up hunters left and right and... Fai, Syaoran has _magic_." her tone grew hysterical as she spoke. "What the hell is going on? One of them said they need him alive for something. And… Oh God! He has a sword sealed into his body! A _friggin sword! _Why… Why is there a sword sealed in him?"

"Syaoran is a very good boy," Fai told her quietly as he unlocked the manacles encircling her wrists. Sometime during her hysteria, Fai had regained his composure and retrieved the keys. He was still a little pale but all she could on his face was profound sadness. "And… he has suffered a lot more than you can imagine." The handcuffs dropped in a puddle of rainwater with a soft plat and Fai moved away from her. "Please don't mention any of this to Kurogane."

Without saying anything else, he draped Syaoran's prone body across his back and stood up without staggering under the weight of the unconscious teen. Fai was a lot stronger than he looked.

Mulling over his words, Sakura forced herself to calm down before she stood up and began following a forlorn Fai. As she neared the end of the street, she spotted a fallen but undamaged link-pad. Without any hesitation, she picked it up and shoved it in the pocket of her jeans.

Jeans?

With a jolt, she realized she was back in her own clothes. The woman she had changed into had been wearing a dress, so the darts not only shut off her magic, they also nullified smaller spells. Which meant that if her clothes were back to normal, then her hair and no doubt her eyes were also back to being her own as well. Which was of course, how Fai had recognized her.

A couple of streets from the place where the encounter had occurred, they came across a panic-stricken Tomoyo. The rain had lessened to a light drizzle by now and soon enough a tense and worried Kurogane appeared at the other end of the street.

"Mage!" the captain shouted long before either of them could call out in greeting. The medic and the raven-haired man raced across the length of the street to reach him where Tomoyo immediately began bombarding the two with questions about Syaoran's well being.

"Don't worry, Tomoyo," Fai gave her a wide, reassuring grin, "Syaoran is not injured. He just passed out."

"Are you sure? I should probably check him when we get back." The lavender-eyed woman worried her lip. Out of the corner of her eye, Sakura noticed that Kurogane was watching Fai with a slight frown on his face. But he did not say anything.

"What happened to your face?" he asked as he turned his garnet-eyed gaze to observe her instead.

"Um…I ran into some hunters." She answered somewhat self-consciously.

"Oh God! Are you alright?" Tomoyo finally took in her ragged appearance.

"Yeah. I'm... fine," she looked over at Syaoran's relaxed face and felt something stir inside her. Her shoulder throbbed dully but she ignored the pain. "Totally... fine." She looked away and started walking towards where the ship was docked. Overhead, the clouds parted and a cheery sun shone on the wet city.

-0-

Sakura turned and twisted uneasily in her bunk but sleep was parsecs away from her. The events of earlier that day replayed in her head over and over again. With a grunt of frustration, she ran a hand through her hair.

A small beeping sound alerted her to an incoming message on her laptop. She jumped to her feet and padded across the cold floor towards the small table that was bolted to the wall. She pressed her index finger on a small, grey-colored semi-sphere placed on top of it, with its flat side facing downwards. In size, it could not have been much larger than her fisted hand.

As she retracted her finger, a small panel opened on its top and a 3 dimensional cubical screen was projected before her. Expertly she typed out a command across one panel on the screen before her and immediately a menu was displayed as the cube rotated ninety degrees. Again she typed more commands and the screen rotated obediently.

This time, the screen showed a control panel for the gal-net command centre. A satisfied smile spread across her lips as she bypassed various security protocols and acquired a secure connection. She muttered a simple spell to avoid detection and accepted the intra-galactic call.

The smiling face of Chi greeted her when the screen rotated another ninety degrees.

"Hey, Chi," Sakura felt a smile spread across her own lips at the sight of her genius friend. "Don't tell me you already cracked the codes."

"But I already did crack the codes," the brown-eyed blond grinned.

"Have I ever told you how amazing you are?"

"You have," Chi nodded, "but I wouldn't mind hearing you say that again."

"Chi," Sakura laughed, "You, my friend, are simply amazing."

"Thank you." the blond replied happily.

"You are welcome," the brunette nodded before her expression grew serious, "So, did you go through them?"

"Yeah," Chi grew somber as well, "and I think you might find out _some_ of the answers this time."

"Some of the answers?" Sakura frowned in disappointment.

"Well, it's better than nothing, right?" Chi pointed out. "Although the reason I said that was because you're gonna have a lot more questions before you are through with this data."

"Why?" her brow furrowed.

"I'll send them over and you can see for yourself."

"Alright."

A barely audible 'blip' told her that the files had arrived. Sakura typed out a command and the cube opened up, splitting into four individual screens with one of them displaying Chi's angelic face, while the other three presented various codes and commands.

"Check out the file named 'Project Tsubasa'," Chi suggested helpfully.

"Project Tsubasa?" Sakura's frown deepened as her gaze wandered to the powered off Netcom link-pad that she had nicked earlier.

"What's wrong?" the blond hacker asked, noticing her friend's sudden thoughtful expression.

"Nothing… It's just that I ran into some hunters in the Bazaar today," she answered distractedly. She reached out for the link-pad, turning it on and linking it to her laptop. Normally such a thing would have been impossible to accomplish but Chi was a genius. And Sakura had learnt everything she knew from the blonde so it wasn't that much of a big deal for her.

"Whoa!" Chi exclaimed as a fifth screen popped up before Sakura and knowing that her friend was using a laptop similar to hers, she knew that a identical screen had opened up for Chi as well. "How'd you get your hands on a _link_-_pad_?"

"Nicked it from a dead hunter." She answered casually as she began searching through the databases to get to what she wanted to show her friend. "You remember how I always got frustrated when the hunters came after me even when I went out as myself?"

"Without any of your disguises, right?" Chi nodded.

"Yeah," Sakura replied, her eyes flying across the latest screen as she bypassed password after password. "I finally found out why." She informed her in a grim tone as she gave the final command and the screen blinked once before displaying a regular wanted page- the kind the government put out for criminals and magicians.

"What the…" Chi's eyes widened as she read what the page displayed.

"Exactly." Sakura answered, turning her attention to the stolen files that she had her friend crack for her.

"But this means that…" the blond spluttered.

"I know." She answered, scanning the list of documents, "Bingo." She tapped the file titled 'Project Tsubasa' and three windows popped open.

"Oh hell..." Chi mirrored the horror Sakura had felt when she had first seen that wanted page. "Sakura-"

"I'm not the only one they want for this thing, either," she interrupted the blonde, "check out the next one."

"Xiao-lang?" Chi spoke the foreign name with some difficulty.

"Look at the classification." Sakura nodded, not looking away from the three windows as her eyes scanned the list of files.

"It's the same as yours." Chi frowned.

"And the next one as well." Sakura supplied.

Chi scrolled to the next page obediently and her mouth fell open.

"Y-Yuui…"

"Yeah, he is also-" she broke off. Noticing the distress in her friend's tone, she looked up only to witness Chi's face as all color drained from it. "Chi?"

But Chi was staring straight ahead, not looking at Sakura.

"What's wrong Chi?"

"Yuui…"She breathed, staring at something behind Sakura. The brunette looked over her shoulder only to see a flash of gold vanish into the hallway. A frown made its way to her face but she hid it quickly, looking back at the stunned hacker.

"No, that's the ship's pilot," Sakura shook her head, "Fai."

A choked noise escaped from Chi's throat but the blonde quickly looked away.

"Right… _Ahem_… um… yeah. The files. Look at the one titled 'Seals'." Chi said even as she opened the desired file for her.

All thoughts flew out of her mind as she took in the image displayed before her.

A set of seven black pairs of wings outlined by a black circle. The overlapping white circle and its outlining black circles and the interlocking branches were absent. The longer, solitary shaft was also missing in the picture but then again, she had never expected those to be there anyways because all that had been carved on her body much, much later.

The overlapping symbol had been designed to contain the effects of the winged seal after all.

"That's…" she trailed off, wide eyes staring at her friend whose brown orbs were slightly bloodshot for some reason.

"The seal on your shoulder." The blonde completed for her.

Sakura was suddenly aware of the way her whole body was quaking, cold sweat making its way down her flesh. She gulped and realized how parched throat was. It was just like earlier that evening, like the time in the Bazaar with Syaoran.

"I have no idea who this Wolf guy is supposed to be," Chi continued, pulling up a new window for her to see, "but I would bet all my electronic gadgets on the fact that Blossom refers to you."

Sakura skimmed over the file containing a _lot_ of technical information on God knew what but she did gather that it was some sort of experiment.

"Oh God…" she gulped again as she felt all warmth leave her body. "What the hell is all this?"

"Take a look at this seal."

"I've seen something like this before," she whispered as she stared at the black circle with two long, large mirror shaped images in the middle. They were similar to an elongated 'c' along the bottom but the top extended upwards, finishing in a point similar to the shadow of a bird's extended wing. However, the image was not completed there. Six more sets of similar 'c's, each one smaller than the previous set, were also placed inside this circle. Now that Sakura looked at the complete picture, she could easily tell that it was the same as her own winged seal, the only difference was that their colors were inverted.

"Chi," Sakura tore her eyes away from the image before her, "is it okay if I talk to you later? Maybe tomorrow? There is something I need to do."

"Alright," the blond nodded, her face strangely blank.

"But um… before I go… Can I ask you something?" she asked a little hesitantly.

"Yeah?"

"Did you know a Yuui?"

Her friend's face suddenly had an expression that Sakura couldn't place.

"I'll talk to you tomorrow, alright Sakura?" Chi said in a voice so cheerful it _had_ to be fake. Before she could utter another word, the window displaying Chi's face flickered out of existence as the message of 'Connection Terminated' was shown in its place.


	11. Torn Hearts and the Truth

_**A/N: Hi guys! I'm really, really, reeeeeally happy today so here's an update for you all as a treat.**_

_**My mom's PET scan result came yesterday and she is clear, so we are all rejoicing, which is why you're getting a chapter today instead of on Monday.**_

_**Enjoy!**_

_**Don't forget to review.**_

Sakura quietly made her way across the silent ship, wondering where the person she needed to talk to could be. She had already checked his bunk which was, surprisingly, empty. She repressed a sigh of frustration as she looked around the vacant galley. The desert sand shone silver in the moonlight outside the porthole-like window. In the distance, the lights of the Clow port-city shone proudly, like stars spread out on the ground.

Spotting a shadow moving outside, she decided that her best bet would be looking off-board. The cold wind bit against her skin as she exited the ship, her feet sinking into the loose sand as she walked towards the place where she had spotted her target.

"I came to your room to thank you for earlier," the person spoke without looking up as his fingers traced patterns in the sand he was hunched over. "But you were busy, so I left."

"Yeah, I was talking to a friend." She answered casually as she settled in the sand next to him. For some reason, this act felt really familiar to her, like she had used to do this a long time ago, with her Nii-san.

Nii-san.

There it was again. That word…

What did it mean?

Frowning, she pushed that thought out of her mind. There were more important matters she needed to deal with.

"A good friend?" he asked quietly.

"Very." She answered equally quiet. "Her name is Chi."

"That's a beautiful name."

"She seemed to recognize you." Sakura said offhandedly.

"Oh?" he responded, a little cautiously.

"I nicked a link-pad yesterday." Sakura quickly changed the subject, carefully observing the blond pilot for his reaction.

"Ah," he nodded, his expression betraying neither surprise nor distress. "I suppose you used a spell to block out their trackers?"

"Yeah." She answered.

"Impressive." He smiled softly, "You're a strong sorceress, Sakura."

"Thanks."

The two fell silent after that. Sakura waited, hoping that he would breach the topic she wanted to discuss with him but when Fai remained silent, she decided to break the ice herself.

"Why did I lie to Kurogane?"

"…"

"Fai, I _know_ you know something. Probably a lot more than you're letting on. What do you think Kurogane would say if I told him about earlier?" She hated black-mailing people, but sometimes, it was simply unavoidable. Especially when the other person had answers that she needed. "From your earlier reaction I can easily tell they don't know that the tattoo on Syaoran's arm is a seal. I bet they don't even know about the sword thing."

"Sakura…" Fai pleaded softly, silently begging her not to ask anything further.

"I'm sorry Fai," she whispered back, hugging her folded legs closer to her body as she stared out at the sea of silver before her.

Fai remained silent.

"I hate doing this," she admitted, "but I need to know. I can remember nothing of my life before I was fifteen. Who I was? Where I came from? Did I have a family somewhere? I need to know…" she trailed off, rubbing her arms to provide some heat to her numb limbs. "Syaoran… he… he is connected to my past somehow. I'm really sorry, Fai, but I won't stop if that's what you are hoping for. I finally have a chance to find out something about myself other than my name."

Fai did not respond and she wondered if the blond had even heard her.

"If… If you're worried I might tell someone," she said, trying not to sound desperate but a little anxiety still leaked into her tone. "I swear I won't."

Still Fai was mum.

"I wonder if Kurogane noticed all the flaws in your story of finding Syaoran out in the streets of Infinity." She finally changed her tactics. "Clearly, 'Project Tsubasa' was carried out on another planet. After all, Fei wouldn't dare do something on the one planet Yuuko has control over. His carefully constructed experiment would have fallen apart had anyone discovered it and informed her." She did not fail to notice the way Fai's body stiffened at the name of the project.

"Oh, and by the way, did I mention that Chi thought you were _Yuui_?" she laid special emphasis on the name. "In case you don't know, Yuui is also wanted by the hunters for crimes against Lord Fei. I mean Xiaolang, I can understand, he was part of the experiment but Yuui? I wonder what he might have done, don't you, Fai?"

"Stop it." Fai hissed, his hands clenched into fists by his side.

"Then answer my questions, Fai." Sakura could barely recognize the commanding tone but she knew that the cold voice that issued from her mouth was her own. "Or do I have to tell Kurogane?" She loathed herself right about then, blackmailing him with something like that. It was quite clear from the way he treated the amber-eyed teen that he cared for him and yet she was using that and his past against the blond to get what she wanted.

Sakura was not a cruel person. No. Far from it. Every time she took a life, her heart shattered a little more. Even if they were her enemies, they were still living beings and killing someone in cold blood and leaving their corpses in alleys and streets and warehouses to rot was not something she enjoyed. No, she abhorred doing that. But that was something she had little control over.

But willingly using a person's weakness against them? When had she sunk to that level?

"Fei Wong Reed is a bastard," Fai's venomous hiss broke her out of her reverie. "He kidnapped my brother… My twin brother…Yuui. Your friend, Chi, I think she might have known him. I'm not sure. We had been separated when we were very young. Twins were never considered good luck on my home planet, so we had been separated at the age of ten. I became a pilot in hopes of running into him on some port town. It was a small chance but I took it. And after many cycles of constant searching, I finally managed to find him on Ceres. He was living under the care of a kind man named Ashura."

"He didn't seem to mind the fact that we were twins and he happily took me in. But we had not been reunited for more than a few months when Fei had Ashura killed. And then…" He closed his eyes and took in a deep breath, "He… He took my twin. He wanted him for an experiment of sorts."

"I searched and searched for my brother but by the time I got to him… It was too late." He exhaled a little shakily. "He was dead… I knew I had no further reason to stay but I didn't go away from there. I needed some way to avenge him so… I broke into the facility that took his life."

Sakura did not break the silence that followed that confession and was rewarded by Fai when he continued his tale after remaining quiet for a couple more minutes.

"I had heard rumors circulating in the underground networks about a young sorcerer who had been kidnapped by Fei for the same experiment, _Project Tsubasa_." He spat those two words. "He had probably been in that place for a little over a complete cycle. His life in that hell hole was filled with nothing but excruciating agony. He went through magical and mental torture for hours. I wasn't lying when I said Syaoran has suffered a lot more than you can possibly imagine."

"So that sword…"

"Fei Wong did it personally." He answered bitterly. Sakura wondered how he knew that. Maybe from the rumors that circulated in the underground? "I broke him out of that place but he was traumatized for life. Even now, with almost two cycles of constant love and care, he still gets terrified at the smallest of things. Loud noises, turbulence, crowds…" he trailed off, finally opening his eyes only to look away and stare at the endless sea of sand opposite to the Clow port-city. "I flew us to Infinity. The one place Fei wouldn't dare send his people. Which was where Kurogane and Tomoyo found us half a cycle later." He fell silent after that.

"Why didn't you tell all this to Kurogane?" Sakura broke the tranquility after a long time.

"Kurogane loves Syaoran like his little brother." Fai laughed humorlessly. "What do you think he would do if he knew?"

"Go after Fei Wong?" She ventured. In the week that she had known them, she had learnt enough about the stoic captain to know he wouldn't hesitate to do just that.

"Kurogane is not a magician. He doesn't have any magic." Fai said softly.

"He wouldn't stand a chance against Fei." She nodded in understanding.

"And where do you think that would leave Tomoyo and Syaoran?" Fai filled his right hand with sand, letting it slip out of his fingers, the little grains blown away by the cold desert wind. "Syaoran would be back in his clutches and Tomoyo would be sent to some place… unpleasant."

Sakura shivered, knowing exactly what that unpleasant place might be for someone as beautiful as Tomoyo.

Sakura still felt like she had missed out on asking about something very important, but she couldn't quite place her finger on it.

"Why is Yuui's name in the hunters' databases if you are the one who broke him out and your twin was killed?"

"I… I don't know." Fai shook his head, "Maybe it's some sort of cruel twisted joke that Fei is playing at my expense. I wouldn't put it past that bastard to have made it so I would be reminded of my brother every _single_ time I encounter a hunter."

Fai got to his feet and left after that, but Sakura stayed where she was, watching as the moon flew across the sky, sinking lower and lower past the horizon. Staring as the stars dimmed out, one by one blinking out of existence. Still gazing as the sky grew a light pink and purple, the wispy clouds near the distant horizon reflecting those colors beautifully, adding in a little gold and orange touch in their attempt to mimic the great ball of fire that lit up the heavens.

Later that day, when Tomoyo walked into the galley to cook breakfast, she found a small note from the brunette, stating that she had gone into the city because she had a craving for lobster-apples. Setting the note down, Tomoyo looked at the basket of blue colored fruit that bore the same name and let a small smile touch her lips. Sakura just needed a little time to herself.

_**A/N: And finally, Syaoran's history is revealed.**_

_**What do you think? Good? Bad? When should I update next?**_

_**On Monday or next Saturday? ;) ;)**_

_**Here's a sneak peak at what I have in store for you guys next time.**_

For a long time, they both stared at each other.

"Touya?" the other boy, now a man also dressed in hunter garb, stepped into view behind him but he too froze when his gaze fell on Sakura.

"S-Sakura?" The dark haired hunter called Touya breathed and she bolted.

_**So that's it for now.**_

_**Ciao!**_


	12. Encounters

_**A/N: And here's the next chapter.**_

_**Enjoy!**_

Sakura wandered through the streets of The Clow Bazaar. Her gaze subconsciously travelled to the beautiful castle that was visible in the distance, black flags bearing that wretched symbol of a crimson bat placed in a circle hung from every tower, gallery and balcony.

_I liked them better when those flags were blue,_ a small voice supplied all of a sudden._ And they didn't have that ugly bat on them. I think the moon and the sun looked much prettier._

"Huh?" she looked around for the voice, but everywhere people mulled about their daily businesses.

Shrugging off the strange feeling of familiarity that she got from the castle all of a sudden, she quickly turned away, hurriedly walking towards the square.

She passed the same old man who sold lobster-apples and for some reason, she found herself stopping next to his stall.

"My, my, what beautiful eyes you have," the old man smiled at her kindly, "would you like a lobster-apple, little miss?"

"Um… No. Thanks." She hastily turned and started jogging towards the square.

_How many times do I have to tell you?_ She heard a male voice admonish her but looking around she saw no one._ Don't wander off like that you little Kaijuu._

"I should have gotten some sleep last night." She muttered under her breath, focusing on bringing her racing heart back to a stop. "I'm starting to hear things."

"Where are your parents, little girl?" a woman, perhaps forty cycles of age, stopped her all of a sudden. "You shouldn't be wandering around the Bazaar on your own."

"Um… I'm meeting my Nii-san by the ridge-blocks." She answered automatically.

"Alright," the woman seemed to accept that explanation, despite Sakura having no idea what a ridge-block was. "But you should hurry. And tell your Nii-san not to let you go out alone. It's not safe for kids to wander out alone."

"I will." She nodded hurriedly before running off in a random direction.

_Wow, the little Kaijuu is getting pretty good._ The male voice from earlier laughed gently.

_Mou… Nii-san I am _not_ a Kaijuu._

A shiver ran down her spine as she cut through the crowds, having no idea where her feet were taking her. In less than five minutes, she had reached the other edge of the city. Here there were nothing but ruins of destroyed houses, pieces of structures that still partially stood crumbling and eroding in the harsh weather. Not knowing why, she picked her way across the decimated streets, cautious and fully alert for signs of danger but no one was there.

_Sakura! _She whipped around, her heart hammering against her ribs, but the owner of that panicked male voice was nowhere to be seen.

Breathing hard, she passed a building that had a glass window. The wall that housed this window was the only thing that still stood in that structure and she paused to look at her own reflection.

A girl of perhaps eight or nine cycles stared back at her with innocent jade colored eyes and short auburn hair.

_Sakura-chan, that was perfectly executed._ A newer male voice spoke, pride evident in his tone.

_Oye, Oye, Yuki, don't praise her all the time._ The first male voice admonished, _the Kaijuu will get it into her head that she is too good and get lazy. And then the hunters will come and catch her._ It took on a teasing tone, _and then maybe _finally_ I won't have a fat Kaijuu to look after._

_Niiii-saaannn..._ the girl's young voice whined.

"I… I have to get out of here." Sakura breathed, the blood pounding in her ears as her breathing grew a little erratic. Who were these people she was hearing? And why? Why did this place seem so familiar? She looked above and realized she was standing outside a small house, which unlike all the other buildings in this area, was in perfectly kept condition.

Without even knowing why, she walked through the door, for some reason not fearing the fact that the owners might be inside or that they might call the hunters on her. The thought made her laugh. No one would call the hunters on a little girl, which was why she chose the disguise she was in. It looked a lot like she might have appeared around ten cycles back but it wasn't like someone would recognize her.

And so, she carelessly walked inside. She might as well have been entering her own home with all the caution she was taking.

The door led into a living room of sorts with an old, worn-out couch placed in front of an ancient TV set. The room was partially converted into a study and right next to it was the kitchen. She could tell from all the from plates and mugs resting on the small coffee table that the living room was probably the place that served as the dining room as well.

There were two bedrooms in the house, both properly lived in but the members of the household were both male. The reason for this deduction was overall messiness of the place. There was a third door, but it was locked shut and Sakura decided to leave it alone.

_Nii-san? _

_Yeah Kaijuu?_

_I miss Kaa-san and Tou-san._

…_I miss them too, Sakura. I miss them too._

There it was again. Those two voices. Quickly she turned and headed towards the door but froze when her gaze fell on a picture frame mounted on the wall next to the door.

In the picture were two boys, both hardly older than sixteen cycles. Hanging from the neck of one of them was a young girl, laughing at the frown on the face of the boy holding her. Despite the fact that the girl had sparkling green eyes and light caramel colored hair her attention was fixated on the two males in the picture.

The boy holding her had dark, ocean-blue eyes and messy windswept hair the color of dark chocolate. The other boy had fair silvery-blonde hair and gentle grey-colored eyes which were partially hidden behind a pair of round glasses.

"Nii-san…" she breathed, reaching out to touch the face of the dark-haired boy, but her fingers met the resistance of the glass that protected the photograph.

"…all killed with a sword." A male voice, surprisingly similar to the one she had been hearing for a while came from outside the door and Sakura felt fear grip her heart. The owners of this house were back. What was she going to tell them? Maybe she could say she got lost and ended up here?

Or perhaps…

Whatever it was that her mind was going to supply jumped out the window when the owner of that voice stepped through the door. The man who stepped through the door bore a striking resemblance to the dark-haired boy in the picture with the only difference being that while the boy might have passed off as a really good looking but ordinary teenager this guy, decked out in the hunter's uniform was anything _but_ ordinary.

For a long time, they both stared at each other.

"Touya?" the other boy, now a man also dressed in hunter garb, stepped into view behind him but he too froze when his gaze fell on Sakura.

"S-Sakura?" The dark haired hunter called Touya breathed and she bolted.

Racing past their bodies froze in shock, she quickly made her way across the streets.

_Shit!_ _They recognized me._ She mentally screamed as she ran. Behind her she could hear them running after her. _Shit. Shit. Shit! _She quickly dove into the hustling streets of the main Bazaar, weaving in and out of the crowds in hopes of losing them long enough to change her disguise.

"Sakura, wait!" she heard Touya call but she didn't slow down. For some reason she did not want to fight those two. She had never in life wanted something so much as she wanted to avoid fighting them. It was like she knew that if she killed them, her heart would shatter and break beyond repair. She could _not_ hurt them.

"Sakura!"

The brunette ducked into a dark alley and jumped behind an overflowing dumper. The putrid smell of rotting garbage reached her nose but she ignored it in favor of muttering the spell she used most often. The woman that rejoined the crowd outside had short spiky red hair and a dark complexion with high cheekbones and liquid silver eyes.

"Sorry, Miss," Touya hastily apologized over his shoulder after he bumped into her but didn't stop to give her another glance.

"Sakura, wait!" he yelled, running after the decoy she had set up the minute her disguise took effect.

Taking in a deep breath to calm her racing heart, she quietly walked into a nearby Instant Money Withdrawal machine (or IMW machine for short.) Punching in the correct codes, she opened her account and withdrew a few thousand Pais. They ought to be more than enough to cover all her travel expenses till she got to Infinity. Working as a thief for hire in the underground circles of Infinity during her search for information on her own past had helped fill up her bank account quite nicely.

Spotting an ice-cream parlor, the same one that she had seen Kurogane and Syaoran go into the day before, she got a sudden craving for strawberry ice-cream. Feeling safe for the time being at having managed to lose those hunters she walked into the shop, deciding on settling at a table next to one of the glass windows that showed the street outside. Nothing eventful happened as she ate and she did not run into any more hunters on her way back to the docks.

Questions kept on running through her head on who those two men were. She knew where they lived and they seemed to have recognized a younger version of her. And if that photograph was anything to go by, she might even have known them back then. But could they be trusted? They were _hunters_ for crying out loud. What if they turned her in when she revealed herself to them?

If they fought she would most definitely kill them. Her heart clenched painfully at that thought.

No.

She'd stay away from them.

After all, she still had all those files on her laptop. Maybe Chi had missed something out while going through them. She'd check them all and find out more about herself that way. It was a whole lot safer.

And if new questions arose, she could always get her associate to locate files for her that she could steal. For some reason, stealing things from the heart of Lord Fei's networks seemed a lot safer and easier than confronting a couple of hunters.

Sakura gave a bitter laugh as she realized that and stepped inside the cool ship.

_**A/N: You know the drill. I'm currently too tired to type it all out so just let me know what you guys think, k?**_

_**Till next time.**_

_**Nims**_


	13. Fevers Nightmares or Reality?

_**A/N: I'm really really reaaaaallly happy today. My result came out yesterday and I passed everything. I messed up in a couple of subject and was really worried about that but thankfully everything worked out so I'm currently on cloud nine, which is why I decided to treat you to another update.**_

_**Enjoy!**_

On her way back to her cabin, she noticed that the door to Syaoran's room was open and the teen was asleep on his bed. Like everything else that had happened that day she was not sure why, but she found her feet leading her inside, stopping only when she was a couple of feet away from him.

Sakura watched him, her eyes silently roaming his face, taking in the way his thick chocolate hair fanned out on the pillow, to the way his eyes roved beneath his lids as he dreamt. He had a strong chiseled jaw, defined cheekbones and a slightly crooked nose. There was a small, purpling bruise on his forehead from where he had hit the wall during the pirate attack but all in all, Sakura had to admit, he had an attractive face.

His brow pulled into a frown as a small whimper of discomfort issued from his mouth; restlessly, he turned on his side, facing Sakura. He squirmed, his hands fisting around the sheets as he turned away from her moments later.

Agitated, he turned once more, the sheets twisting around his lower body as he moaned softly. Some of his hair stuck to his sweat-dampened forehead. Subconsciously, Sakura found herself sitting down by his side, her hand reaching forward to push the hair out of his eyes. Syaoran stopped moving when her cool fingers touched his rather hot skin. He was burning up with fever.

_He had probably been in that place for a little over a complete cycle. _Fai's words from earlier that morning rang inside her head. _He went through magical and mental torture for days at end._

"You said I was broken," She murmured softly, her fingers lingering on his furrowed brow, "but what about you, Syaoran?" her hand trailed down the side of his face, along his cheeks, to his neck. "Didn't you break too?"

With a bitter laugh, she retracted her hand, "I'm not the only one who is damaged, huh?"

Just as she got up and turned to leave, his hand reached out and grabbed her wrist.

"Stay," he whispered. Sakura looked over her shoulder and noticed he was still asleep. With a quiet sigh, she tried to free her hand but his grip only tightened.

"Please," he mumbled with his eyes closed, "don't leave me here."

"It's okay, Syaoran," she tried to make her voice sound soothing like Tomoyo's but had little success, "you're safe."

"Don't go," he murmured, his grip not loosening one bit.

A sharp, burning sensation flooded her senses, spreading out from the mark on her shoulder.

"Argh!" she hissed, trying to clutch the source of her pain but realized with a jolt that her body was paralyzed. She couldn't move. She clenched her teeth and waited for the seal to start its work as precious seconds ticked by, which turned to minutes.

She waited and waited but nothing happened.

"Syaoran, let go," she managed to grit out, but the teen only held tighter. "It's hurting me, please let go."

"Don't leave me," was all the answer she got before the burning enveloped her whole. However, not even a cry was able to escape her lips as she was swallowed by darkness.

_With a groan, she opened her eyes, blinking a couple of times to confirm if what she was seeing was real._

_She was currently lying on her back on a cold stone floor. Up above her was a black, non-decrepit sort of ceiling also made out of stones. She rolled to her side and pushed herself off the ground on shaky arms. Not having enough strength to stand up, she merely used it to haul her body into a sitting position. Looking around she noticed that the rectangular room that she was currently in was occupied by four other people, three men and a young boy who appeared to be barely thirteen cycles old. She couldn't see the faces of any of the men, but one of them was definitely in his forties, while judging from the physique of the others, she would put them in the category of late teens to early twenties._

_None of them noticed her appearance, and quietly struggling to her feet, she decided to keep it that way._

"_Are you alright, Miss?" The somewhat familiar voice made her jump and lose her already shaky balance. She stumbled and almost fell to the grimy floor but a strong pair of arms caught her._

_Despite the dull lighting of the room, her savior's face glowed as though emitting a light of its own. A mop of messy brown hair framed a finely crafted face with sharp cheekbones and the most captivating amber-colored eyes._

"_S-Syaoran?" she gasped, noticing the way his eyes shone with intelligence._

_His look of concern changed to one of confusion. "I'm sorry, but do I know you?" he asked politely, as he let go of her once she was back on her feet._

"_It's me, Sakura," she answered._

"_I don't think we've met before," he shook his head._

"_What do you mean we haven't met before?" She repeated a little incredulously._

_Syaoran opened his mouth to answer but a soft whirring sound caused his expression to darken._

"_They're starting again," he murmured quietly, looking over his shoulder towards the boy who was currently strapped to a surgical table._

_Before she could respond to that however, a heart-wrenching scream tore through the air. She whirled around only to freeze in horror at the sight before her._

_The young boy was thrashing against his bindings, blood flowing freely from the torn flesh of his wrists and ankles as his body convulsed violently. His head whipped from side to side as he screamed before he began to choke and gag on the thick haze that enveloped his body. _

_His struggles grew more frantic as he failed to draw in a proper breath, his back arching in vain as he tried to break free of the bonds that held him. But the more he tried, the thicker the haze grew. _

_Slowly, his flailing body relaxed, his movements growing sluggish as his lids began to droop. Then all of a sudden there was brilliant flash of forest green and the thick choking haze that surrounded him was pushed away by the pure aura._

_But it only took a couple of seconds before the choking haze began to seep into the aura that immediately retreated inside the boy's body before it could be polluted any further. One of the men with blank, stormy grey eyes stepped forward with a needle filled with some sort of black liquid that was injected carelessly into the boy's jugular._

_Before the needle was even retracted from his body, the boy was screaming in pain, thrashing about wildly and tearing the skin off his flesh even more. A small pool of red began to form on the floor around him as his body lost the vital fluid but all those men did was inject a pale, green-colored fluid using a separate needle. This one was injected straight into his heart._

_Or that was what she gathered from the fact that it had been stabbed directly into the left side of his chest. The flow of blood slowed down but he did not cease his struggles. Once again the haze gathered around his body and again he began to choke and gasp._

_Just like before, his body flopped when he almost fainted and his aura came out to defend its master only to be polluted a little bit more. Once the aura retreated, the men stepped forward again and the whole cycle continued._

"_Oh God…" Sakura breathed, her voice nothing more than a hoarse whisper. But her gaze was fixated on something behind the boy. She had not been able to make out the faces of any of the men present in the room. For some reason, all their faces were black outlines, but their eyes stood out._

_And out of all three pairs of eyes, the ones that stood out the most were a deep, ocean blue color._

"_T-Touya?" Sakura experienced a sensation as though she was falling down an endless tunnel as the scene around her grew hazy and finally faded away to leave nothing but pitch black._

Sakura woke up with a jolt, breathing hard she assessed her surroundings. Half her body was sprawled out on the floor while the upped half was leaning against a bunk, pressing against something firm and hot.

A pained whimper made her look to her right as she remembered she was in Syaoran's room. Her shoulder throbbed despite the cooling sensation of the second seal as she sat up.

Sakura couldn't remember what happened but a black outlined face with a pair of emotionless ocean-blue eyes flashed in her mind's eye and her breath caught in her throat. She quickly extracted her hand from Syaoran's grip, jumping to her feet. Clutching her hand to her chest she stumbled back, eyes wide in panic as she stared at the sleeping boy before her.

His brow furrowed as he groaned and bit his lip. His hand searched for hers, fisting around the sheets when he couldn't find it.

"No…" Another moan issued from his mouth as he turned on his side, but Sakura only took another step away from him. Her gut knotted uncomfortably and she retreated further.

Fear clenched its icy hands around her heart, freezing her blood.

Syaoran made a noise low in his throat and Sakura turned on her heals and fled.

Fai was the only person on the ship aside from her since Tomoyo and Kurogane had gone back to the Bazaar to buy food supplies and parts for the ship respectively. A task which was supposed to be completed the day before but had to be abandoned before it even began because of Syaoran having gone missing.

_How many times do I have to tell you? _She sank to the floor, hearing that hunter's voice again. _Don't wander off like that you little Kaijuu._

"Who are you?" she mumbled weakly, burying her face into her folded knees.

She did not move to help Fai calm Syaoran when the disturbed teen cried out, nor did she notice it when a tainted, forest-green aura flared up and tried to subdue an equally strong, strangely familiar yet foreign aura. She didn't do anything when the foreign aura managed to overcome and suppress the tainted one as Syaoran's echoing cries ceased.

Had been any other time, she might have been worried about the boy but now, for some reason, she couldn't bring herself to care. She lacked the even the energy to crawl into bed to get some much needed rest. Her body was too drained, supplying the curse mark and it's containing seal energy to continue the battle for domination.

So that was how with fear-inducing, troubled thoughts of the forgotten dream or vision she passed out, leaning against the door.

_**A/N: And that's it for this time. Well?**_

_**A little bit more of what happened to Syaoran is revealed so is the picture becoming any clearer now? **_

_**So who can guess who those other guys were? I wonder why Touya would do something like that. Any thoughts? I'd love to know. ;)**_

_**-Nims.**_


	14. Confessions

_**A/N: I got one word.**_

_**Enjoy!**_

Their two day trip to Planet Clow was extended to a little over five days. Apparently, the ship had suffered a lot more damage than Kurogane had initially anticipated. Or that was what Fai told her the next morning when she came out for breakfast and asked the pilot about their schedule.

Tomoyo had apologized profusely for the delay, saying that they would understand if she wanted to hire another ship to take her to Infinity if she was in a hurry. She had been busy fussing over Syaoran as she had said this- the teen's fever had not broken for another day.

Sakura had smiled- helping her dab the unconscious male's head with cooled, wet washcloths to lower the temperature- and assured her that she could wait for a few days.

Even though she _was_ in a little bit of hurry, this was _Clow_ she was stuck on. There weren't a lot of captains out here who would keep quiet about her being a practicing sorceress and she preferred to spare human lives whenever she could. She was very lucky to have ended up with people who were not greedy for Fei's money.

Or was it because they didn't know how much she could reel in for them? Would they turn her in if they knew the amount of money she had on her head? But wouldn't that risk exposing Syaoran to Fei as well? But then again, Kurogane and Tomoyo didn't know that their adoptive brother had been taken by the Bat Lord. So if they didn't know that, they wouldn't fear exposing him.

Her heart clenched painfully at the thought of Syaoran ending up back in _that hell hole_ as Fai had put it. What exactly had they done to the teen in that place? She didn't know. But she hoped with all her heart that he did not end up back there.

_His life in that hell hole was filled with nothing but excruciating agony._ She remembered how pained Fai's voice had gotten when he had told her that.

And that sword.

Fei had personally sealed a _sword_ into Syaoran.

But the blond pilot knew of the dangers, right? Even though she didn't trust them a lot, she knew he wouldn't be stupid enough to do something like turning her in if it meant returning Syaoran to that place. Besides, Syaoran wasn't the only one who would end up in Fei's hands if she was handed over to the hunters. Fei was looking for a certain _Yuui_ as well.

So she knew she was safe.

Besides, now she finally had a lead to finding the answers to the questions that plagued her and she had a feeling that Syaoran played a major role in everything. So despite the dangers, she knew she wouldn't be abandoning ship just because there had been a small delay.

Her contractors knew this much. She always worked at her own terms. And they knew that she was good at what she did. So despite her high prices and somewhat arrogant conditions, they still came to her whenever there was a tough job.

So even if her associate had been contacted by some wealthy overlord, she wouldn't worry much about it. If the guy wanted information badly enough to ask for Cherry, he could wait for her to get back. If not… Well. It was his loss.

Today was the fifth day; the day _Little Dragon_ was supposed to launch but unfortunately, the engine was still having problems.

"Sakura, I shouldn't be troubling you," Tomoyo spoke her position at the stove in the galley; she was making some sort of soup for lunch. "But Fai went to town for some parts that Kurogane needed for the engine. And I just remembered we ran out of Syaoran's meds. Could you please call Kurogane here for a moment?"

"Sure. No problem." She smiled, setting down the sketching pad she had been lazily drawing on. It was an almost finished picture of an aristocratic-looking woman with a beautiful, thin face and long, shiny hair. It was the woman she had seen in her dream when she had first gotten on the ship.

Humming quietly under her breath, she made her way to the engine room.

"Kurogane? Tomoyo was asking for you in the galley." She said as she climbed down the ladder that led to the part of the ship that housed the engine.

"What for?" the captain grunted from his spot on the floor, the upper half of his body currently under the engine as he fiddled with something.

"Syaoran's meds." She answered as she stepped off the last rung.

"Alright." He responded gruffly, climbing out from under the engine. His hair was a little mussed but apart from his hands, there was no sign of grease on body or his clothes. "Watch the kid till I get back." He said as he climbed up the stairs and vanished from sight.

"Kid?" she repeated, looking around only to note Syaoran leaning against the far wall of the room. His eyes were closed and he appeared to be sound asleep, which was a first for Sakura. She had never seen him sleep so peacefully. Quietly she sat down next to him, silently observing his face.

"Was that really you that day?" she spoke softly, noticing how his chocolate colored bangs fell into his closed eyes. His chest rose as he inhaled and she found herself watching him even more closely. "Somehow, I can't imagine you being the same as me," he exhaled and his chest fell. "A cold-blooded killer… You're too… _innocent_ to be something like that."

She chuckled quietly, "It was the seal, right? That black tattoo on your arm, you're always clutching at it when you're scared. That's probably it. Does it burn like mine?"

"Your aura… It acts like it knows me," she whispered. "or knows my magic at least. But…" she looked down at her hands folded neatly in her lap, "you were right. I lost my memories. I can't remember anything." she fisted her right hand, unclenching it shortly afterwards, "But every now and then I come across something and I feel like I've been there before. But I can't remember ever seeing it… It's…" she closed her eyes, inhaling shakily, "it's frustrating… for the past two cycles, I have been searching for my lost memories."

"I've taken so many lives along the way that I have even lost count of the times my hands have been bloodied." A tear leaked through her closed lids and she quickly wiped it away before it could trail down her cheek. "I'm selfish and I've used people to get to what I want. I've _hurt_ people in my quest. So many of those hunters… they didn't have any choice but to work for that bastard. The only other option was death and surely there were people who cared enough about them to be hurt if they died. And yet…"

"I killed them, hurting their loved ones. I always tell myself that they deserve to die. That death is better than a life of slavery but… who am I to judge?"

She fell silent after that wondering why she was telling all this to someone who wasn't even listening. Or maybe that was exactly why she was doing it.

"I met a couple of hunters a few days back." She spoke quietly, "and I… for some reason, they…" she exhaled noisily through her nose, "I didn't want to hurt them. For the first time in my life I felt like if I fought and killed them, I'd die inside. I don't know why but I keep hearing these voices. These three kids, talking. One of them is a little girl and the other two are boys. I get the feeling those boys are the hunters and the little girl is me…"

"I want to ask them if they knew me but… I'm scared. They're _hunters._ What if… what if they turn me in? I don't want to live the rest of my life like a slave." She hit the back of her head against the metal wall. A dull thunk sounded as it collided. "I just… want to know who I am…"

A warm hand covered hers and she opened her eyes in surprise only to see Syaoran. His soft brown orbs silently staring at her, the light yellow flecks shining in the light like gold. He gave her a small smile and squeezed her hand lightly. The he climbed to his feet, pulling her along. He led her to the engine with its various parts dismantled and scattered on the floor.

Without another word, he let her hand go as he sat down observing the complex machine closely. A slight frown marred his features as he observed all the items around him. Then his face visibly brightened as he picked something up and began fiddling with the device.

"Um… I don't think you should be doing that, Syaoran. Kurogane said he'd be back in a while." she said somewhat hesitantly, but the teen shook his head before returning to the task at hand. "I'm not sure if he would be happy with you messing with it."

But Syaoran only shook his head once more. Wondering if she should call Tomoyo, she turned around to go to the galley but stopped when she heard his voice.

"Please stay." He said softly. Sakura thought about leaving anyways, but decided against it.

Quietly she sat down on the lowest rung of the ladder. He looked over his shoulder, his eyes brightening when he saw that she was still there. With a cheerful disposition, he set to work.

-0-

"Lunch is ready," Kurogane called from the top of the ladder as he peeked inside. "What the…" his eyes widened as he looked at Syaoran who ducked out from under the engine with a grinning face and a small smudge of grease on his right cheek. He pushed his bangs out of his face with his slightly dirty hands and succeeded in getting a bit of the sticky substance on them as well, but he still beamed proudly at his mentor.

"Kid…"

Without even bothering to use the ladder- that Sakura hastily got off of- Kurogane jumped to the floor, hurrying over to the chocolate-haired boy.

"I fixed it." Syaoran smiled widely, picking up the last panel that he slid neatly back in place with no effort at all. Kurogane walked over to the manual control panel built into the side of the engine and pressed a button. With a small whirring noise, the mechanism came to life.

"Girl, get Tomoyo." He said, not looking away from the holo-display screen. "Now."

Turning on her heels, she hurried to do what was asked of her, unable to contain her own amazement at the fact that the same engine that Kurogane had been working on for almost a week, Syaoran had managed to get up and running in less than two hours. She doubted even a professional mechanic would have been able to fix it that quickly. She was no pro but she knew a little bit about engines. It paid to do so in her line of work in case one had to make a quick getaway on a stolen vehicle or something.

"Tomoyo, Kurogane is calling you to the engine room."

"He fixed it." Kurogane told her when the medic descended the steps. "Tomoyo, the _kid_ fixed it!" he laughed, grabbing the lavender-eyed woman by her waist, lifting her off the ground and spinning her in a circle.

"What?" Tomoyo breathed as though unable to believe what she had heard.

"I said, the kid fixed the engine." He set her down, looking over at Syaoran who was looking expectantly at Tomoyo.

"Oh, Syaoran!" the medic exclaimed, rushing towards the boy only to envelop him in a tight hug. His face exploded in a brilliant smile once again as he hugged her back. Sakura looked in the captain's direction who was watching the two embrace with a satisfied look on his face, the corners of his lips upturned in a smile.

"This is the first time he has fixed anything since his accident." He told her as though he could read her mind. Sakura let her gaze travel back towards the embracing pair and her heart fluttered with joy for them. She opened her mouth to respond but was cut off by Fai's voice.

"Kurgy!" the blond pilot yelled down, slightly out of breath. "We've got a major problem."

"What?" the captain immediately turned serious. Tomoyo, too, withdrew from the hug but she still held Syaoran, who for some reason looked as somber as his mentor.

"Hunters," he answered, "a whole lot of them, all heading this way."

_**A/N: And I left you all on a cliffie! *insert evil laugh here***_

_**You know the drill. ;)**_

_**Till next time.**_

_**-Nims.**_


	15. Hunters and Shattering Hearts

_**A/N: I updated. You can put down those pitchforks and torches now.**_

"_Hunters," Fai answered, "a whole lot of them, all heading this way."_

"Mage, connect the engines and get the ship in the air," Kurogane ordered as he climbed up the ladder. "Tomoyo, take the kid to his room." Then, without another word, he was gone.

"Fai," the medic asked as the pilot jumped down the hatch and landed on the floor with feline grace. "How many hunters?"

"Around two dozen or so." The ochre-eyed man replied in a grave tone as he ran to the holo-display screen and checked the engine statistics.

"I'll go help," Sakura volunteered at the same time as the medic declared that she was going out.

"No, we couldn't ask that of you," the lavender-eyed woman shook her head. The eighteen year old brunette could almost hear the medic thinking, 'She's too young to fight a battle as bloody as this one.' Tomoyo would have probably had a heart attack had she known about the battle Sakura had taken part in not even a week back, but she let the medic have her way.

After all, if the hunters knew Sakura was onboard, the crew of the _Little Dragon_ would have a lot more hunters coming after them. So she nodded and said instead, "Is there anything else I could help with?"

"Could you take Syaoran to his room and stay with him till we get out of here?"

All Sakura could do was nod once again, shocked by this display of trust from the older woman but agreed to do what she could anyways. "Sure thing."

An explosion sounded in the distance and Tomoyo bit her lip, looking over at the chocolate-haired boy. Syaoran's expression was blank, his eyes having lost their previous spark, dulling in the fear he no doubt felt. "Stay with Sakura, okay, Syaoran?" the medic instructed him gently.

Hesitantly, the eighteen year old nodded, his gaze travelling in the jade-eyed girl's direction.

"I'll be right back," the medic promised him as she turned around and raced up the ladder.

Another explosion, this one closer than the last, reverberated along the floor and Syaoran made a small noise in his throat.

"Fai, is there anything I can do before I go?" Sakura asked quickly, looking over at the pilot who was busy fiddling around with a bunch of wires.

"Just get Syaoran to his room," was the reply she got.

"Let's go to your room, alright, Syaoran?" she took his hand, noticing how cold and clammy it felt in comparison to her own and she squeezed it in a comforting manner, similar to how he had done only a few hours back.

The amber-eyed teen looked uncertainly back at Fai but the pilot was too busy concentrating on the task at hand to give him a reassuring smile. His eyes moved back to her face and Sakura smiled at him softly. Still not appearing completely sure of himself, he nodded once, letting the caramel-haired eighteen year old lead him up the steel ladder.

The engine room was situated near the back of the ship, closer to the cargo hold, while the living quarters were located in the middle and the galley was up front near the cockpit. A long corridor joined these areas. The area in between the bunks and the cargo hold also had a large, glass window which served as a viewing bay of sorts.

It was here that Syaoran's body froze up; his eyes going wide as all color drained from his face, making him appear like a ghost. Alarmed, Sakura stopped walking, following his line of sight to the viewing bay window.

Outside, a battle was going on in full swing, Kurogane and Tomoyo weaving in and out of hunters with ease and agility. The red-eyed captain was armed with a long katana that he was using to cut down all those that were in his path. There were little flecks of blood on his face and clothes but none of that appeared to be his own. With his feral grin and fearless disposition, he looked like nothing less than a demon ready to destroy anything that got in his way.

Tomoyo, as she swung the twin, prong-like forks -that were her choice of weapon- looked like nothing less than a deadly angel, what with her beautiful, porcelain face and long, raven hair flowing about her body as she moved. A small amount of blood dotted her otherwise crisp and clean white-colored shirt. There was a small gash visible on her crème-skinned leg through a place where her jeans had been torn but she did not appear to be bothered by the pain. Unlike Kurogane, her face was set in grim determination.

All around them, the bodies of defeated hunters lay bleeding, some dead, others fatally injured.

Sakura was brought out of her assessment of the battle when a jolt of electricity went through her body, originating from the hand that was holding on to Syaoran. Her curse mark throbbed and another jolt went through her body. The lights flickered inside the ship while the scene outside flashed and morphed into night time.

_A woman was facing away from her as she peered outside the window, her head held high as she walked away. Several men dressed in hunter garb appeared before the woman, shouting at her. Sakura could not hear what they said, but the anger in their tones carried over to her, making her heart race with fear._

_The woman answered, desperation clear in her voice. Silence followed her pleas as the leader of the hunters turned away, asking something softly. The woman only raised her chin in a defiant gesture, not answering his question._

_The loud thunder clap of a gun being shot was what broke the silence and the woman crumpled on the ground in a heap, blood pooling about her body as the light left her eyes. The leader began shouting orders, telling his men to search for something._

_But her eyes were fixated on the woman's pale, lifeless face. Her thoughts rushed, panicked and confused._

_What had they done to her?_

_Why was she lying in that dark liquid?_

_Why wasn't she getting up?_

Syaoran wrenched his hand from Sakura's grip, dashing away from her in panic. Pushing away the confusion that was born due to this sudden vision, Sakura raced after the boy put under her charge.

"Syaoran!"

Outside, Tomoyo and Kurogane continued fighting off the hunters.

"Wait!" Sakura cried, fearing he might do something dangerous in his blind terror, but the beeping sound as the door to his bunk slid close told Sakura that the amber-eyed teen had only hidden in his room.

"Syaoran?" she gently knocked on the door once before pressing the panel that opened the door but Syaoran's whimpered cry of 'Please, don't' made her stop.

"Syaoran?" she asked, quietly pressing her ear against the metal door to hear what he was doing inside.

"She- she died." His muffled reply came from the other side. Sakura could almost visualize him sitting in a corner of his room, curled up in a ball, his eyes glazed and bloodshot.

Sakura's mind's eye flashed back to the vision she just had. She had seen that woman in a dream before, the one where she had been running in fear on an alien world. Syaoran had called her mother when he had seen her disguised as the same woman five days back.

At first she had entertained the possibility of that dream being a vision of her own past but what if… What if that wasn't her own past she had seen? What if it had been Syaoran's? She had thought of that woman as her mother but her heart had not jolted with the feeling of emptiness knowing she could not remember her, like it had done with those two hunters.

She had seen that woman die in the vision she had at the viewing bay. Had Syaoran seen it too? Was that why he had fled? Because he had been reminded of the way his mother had died when he saw those dead hunters lying outside the ship?

"Syaoran, was that your mother?" she asked cautiously.

"She died…" she heard him murmur again.

"And you saw it happen." She said softly but loud enough that he heard her. It was. It _was_ his mother she had just seen.

"They killed her… they- they were looking… and she wouldn't tell them, so they killed her…" his tone was rushed. Panicked. His breathing, uneven as he spoke or more like confessed. "She made me promise… I didn't want to, but I promised her!"

Sakura got a fair idea of what was going through his mind as he said those words.

"Syaoran, listen to me," she spoke in a calming tone, "It wasn't your fault. Your mother loved you very much."

"I promised!" he responded. Sakura had no idea what it was that he had promised his mother but whatever it was, the promise had probably been broken if he was acting in this manner. "And they took me away…" this was enough to confirm her theory.

"You did everything you could to keep that promise," she answered soothingly. "Sometimes… things happen… things that are… beyond your control." Her thought flicked back to the way she had killed countless hunters in cold blood without a thought about their families. "And just because something happens doesn't mean that what happened was your fault."

"she- she asked me… and I couldn't…" he whimpered.

"Because it was something you couldn't control," she answered patiently. "Syaoran, I'm gonna come in now, alright?"

The teen inside did not ask her to stop, but he didn't answer in positive either.

Still, not hearing any cries of pain and the lack of his choking aura, she figured that he was still relatively calm if his mark had not activated. But just as she was about to press the panel to open the door, she heard Tomoyo's battle cry inside the ship. The grunt of retaliation was definitely male but it did not belong to Kurogane and Sakura felt her heart freeze.

A hunter was onboard!

"Syaoran, stay in there. No matter what, don't come out." she told him urgently through the door as she cautiously slid a few throwing knives into her right hand from the sleeve of her shirt.

She heard Tomoyo cry out in pain before the sound of a body hitting the floor reached her ears. Inside she heard Syaoran scramble on the floor. Fearing that he might activate his curse mark if he saw something disturbing, she quickly moved her mouth closer to the door.

"Syaoran, stay where you are." She told him seriously and immediately the noise on the other side ceased.

Satisfied, she returned her attention to the hallway to her right, the part which connected to the cargo hold. A hunter armed with a broadsword emerged at the entrance and Sakura tensed her body in anticipation of the attack.

Stormy, ocean-blue met impassive jade and the world came to a halt. Sakura's heart skipped a beat as the word _Nii-san_ rang through her head.

"What did you do to Tomoyo?" she hissed, aware of Syaoran on the other side of the metal barrier on her left.

"I found you," was the hunter's quiet response making Sakura tighten her grip on the throwing knives.

"I asked you," she narrowed her eyes, "what did you do to Tomoyo, hunter?"

"Hunter?" the dark-haired man repeated in a tone that Sakura could not quite place in her moment of panic. She would have to fight this man. She had to fight this man. Or else she would be captured. But if she fought, he would die. She didn't want to kill him. The thought of killing this hunter before her made her heart feel like it would explode. "Sakura, don't you… Don't you know who I am?"

"No," she answered venomously, hating the man for his stupidity. Didn't the fool realize she wanted to spare his life? Why was he still standing here? She was having a very hard time as it was, controlling her instincts to let the knives fly and end his life. Why wasn't he running away? "And I don't care." The hunter's expression grew blank when he heard this. "I would suggest you leave before you end up losing your life."

"Haai-ya!" Tomoyo cried as she jumped at the hunter from behind but the blue-eyed man spun out of the thrusting fork's path and lifted his sword to stop the weapon's companion. "I won't let you bastards hurt him." she hissed angrily as she dropped to the ground and swung her leg at him.

The hunter blocked the attack and retaliated with a swing of his sword.

"No!" Sakura cried, fearing for the lavender-eyed medic's life. The knives whistled as they sailed through the air.

"Argh!" the hunter gave a cry of pain as they were embedded in his flesh. Dropping the sword, he staggered away from Tomoyo, a look of disbelief on his face as he looked at Sakura. His deep-blue eyes wide in bewilderment as he stared at her before they rolled to the back of his head as he collapsed on the floor.

"Sakura, are you okay?" Tomoyo climbed to her feet, wincing in pain as she did.

"I… I killed him." Sakura breathed, disbelief and shock evident in her tone as she stared at the pale face of the hunter. Blood was beginning to form a small puddle beneath him.

"The engines are online," Fai announced as he raced past them, not pausing to take in the scene before him.

An explosion rocked the ship and Kurogane emerged in the hallway. He swore loudly, running towards the cockpit saying something about blowing the fucking bastards up.

But Sakura did not hear him. The ship rumbled as it lifted off, tilting a bit to the right as Fai maneuvered it but the jade-eyed girl did could not feel it. She couldn't feel anything. A strange emptiness threatened to swallow her up as her heart shattered into a million pieces.

"Oh God…" her breath came out uneven and shaky as she stared at the unmoving figure of the hunter at Tomoyo's feet. "I killed him!"

_**A/N: *slowly backs away* uh yeah. *tugs at collar* I killed Touya. It's about time though. Seriously it's been fifteen chapters and everyone was still alive. I **_**had**_** to kill someone. Ahehehe…**_

_**So anyhow, the next update will be on Saturday. Till then, adios.**_

_**PS. I am putting up a challenge for you guys so keep an eye out for that. The winner will get to request a oneshot from me. :D**_


	16. Shock

_**A/N: Sorry for the slight delay in the update but getting flu and a sore throat and a fever to top it all off in the middle of summer is no fun. Trust me on that. So anyhow, here's the next chappie. **_

_**Enjoy!**_

"_Oh God…" her breath came out uneven and shaky as she stared at the unmoving figure of the hunter at Tomoyo's feet. "I killed him!"_

The medic bent down next to the hunter and placed her fingers at his jugular.

"No, Sakura," Tomoyo shook her head as she hooked her arms under the dark-haired hunter's armpits, "He's not dead." She grunted as she dragged him towards one of the spare rooms next to Sakura's.

"What?" she whispered, not believing what she had heard.

"You didn't kill him." Tomoyo repeated, jabbing the panel with her elbow to open the door. A trail of crimson was left on the floor as she lugged him inside.

"H-how?" Sakura looked down at her hands, which were shaking like dry leaves in the autumn wind.

"You missed his vitals." Was the medic's answer as she slid open a cabinet and extracted a medical kit. The ship tilted to the left and Sakura staggered, hitting Syaoran's door while the unconscious hunter's body rolled off the bunk and hit the floor with a thud.

"Sakura, please stay with Syaoran while I work on him." she asked as she struggled to get the hunter back on the bunk.

"You'll… you'll save him?"

"It would be inhuman to let him bleed to death." She responded, "And besides. Kurogane might have some questions for him."

Without another word, Sakura pressed her palm against the blue panel and slipped inside Syaoran's room as the door opened. Still feeling completely hollow inside, she walked over to the bunk where the teen was sitting quietly. Unlike the last getaway with the pirates, he was more aware of his surroundings, which was probably why he wasn't screaming or crying out in fear.

Could he understand what was going on?

Sakura could not bring herself to think up an answer to that question as she flopped at the edge of his bed, staring blankly ahead. She didn't kill him. She… she missed!

How the heck had that happened?

In over three cycles, she had never once succeeded in missing and now… without even trying she had missed. He was still alive.

That man that the little voice in her head dubbed 'Nii-san' was alive, despite having been hit by her knives.

By her knives… thrown by her hand!

But she would be lying if she said she wasn't trying not to hit him. Because she was. She didn't want to kill him and she… she didn't!

A warm hand caught her own, making her jump as she looked at Syaoran. His eyes were set with determination as he looked at her.

"Things happen…" he said quietly, his soft, yet deep, husky voice stirring something inside her. "But… not your fault."

Sakura's eyes widened as she heard him repeat her own words. Outside the sky changed from clear blue with wispy clouds to pitch black with twinkling stars. Syaoran's other free hand reached out and wiped her right cheek as she felt something wet spread across it.

She looked at the windowpane and was surprised to see the tears staining her cheeks.

When had she started crying?

"Not your fault." He repeated in the same tone as he cleaned her other cheek.

"Oh, Syaoran…" Without even knowing why, she pulled him into a hug, burying her face in his shoulder as she sobbed. He froze for a fraction of a second before she felt him relax.

"You couldn't control it…" he told her gently, not returning her embrace but not letting go of her hand either, "but Nii-san loves you anyway."

"What?" not for the first time that day, her breath caught in her throat as she stared at his face. His eyes burned with earnest conviction.

"He loves you," he repeated simply but before she could ask him to elaborate on how he knew that foreign word, the door slid open and Kurogane emerged.

"I'll take over now," he told her, not unkindly, though he did politely pause and look away as Sakura composed herself.

"I'm gonna… go help Tomoyo." She told the captain as she left the room. But the medic was already stepping out into the hallway.

"He'll live." She smiled kindly at Sakura. Was she acting this way because she thought this was the first time Sakura might have ended up killing someone? What would she do if she ever learnt about all the cold-blooded murders Sakura was responsible for?

"Can I… Can I stay with him?" she asked hesitantly. "I mean, so that I can let you know when he wakes up. Um… if he is not already awake that is because then that would be stupid and-"

"No, you can stay if you want," Tomoyo cut her in, still smiling at her rambling, "I had Kurogane tie him to the bed so you don't have to worry about fighting him off, alright?" this statement confirmed Sakura's belief about the medic thinking she had never killed before.

"Thanks." She answered gratefully as she entered the room.

"Would you like something to eat first?" the medic asked.

"No, I'm not hungry."

"Alright, let me know if you need anything."

"I will." She nodded. "But you rest for a while." Sakura added as she took in the medic's disheveled appearance. "That cut looks like it hurts a lot."

"I'll get some pain meds for it." The lavender-eyed woman laughed as she turned around and headed towards her living quarters. "Thanks for watching over Syaoran."

"It was no problem," Sakura's smile faded from her face as the medic disappeared inside her room and the door to the room currently housing the hunter also slid to a close, leaving her alone with the unconscious man.

-0-

_She ducked under the incoming fist and jumped to the side. The dark-haired boy spun around, bringing his leg along for a kick but she managed to get out of the way, a little clumsily._

"_Don't think I didn't see that. You're getting fat, Kaijuu," the teen grinned as he continued his attack._

"_Nii-san, I'm not a Kaijuu!" she stomped angrily and forgot to block the incoming punch that left her winded when she fell on her butt._

"_So says the Kaijuu who can't even fight." The blue-eyed boy laughed, "One of these days, the fat Kaijuu will get caught by some big, bad hunters and it will be up to me to save the day."_

"_I can too fight!" she said indignantly as she stood up and brushed off her clothes._

"_Not like that you can't," he ruffled her hair and she ducked out from under his hand, frowning at him as she hastily tried to arrange her hair._

"_Touya, you shouldn't tease her so much," the grey-eyed teen admonished as he walked out from the house with a jug of lemonade and three tumblers made out of rough glass._

"_Lemonade!" she squealed in delight as she ran across the dusty ground and grabbed a tumbler._

"_Yuki," the boy named Touya almost whined._

"_You've been at it since morning." Yuki only smiled in return, "Take a break, alright?"_

_The scene changed and she was walking around the familiar streets of the Bazaar. She stopped by a stall owned by an old man who sold lobster-apples. The man greeted her with a kind smile and handed her the blue-colored fruit. Thanking him, she skipped along on her way._

_She stopped once again, this time near the town square, staring at the beautiful stone castle visible in the distance. Black banners emblazoned with the insignia of a red bat hung from every balcony and terrace. The smile left her face as she stared at it longingly but then, shaking her head, she looked away. The sun was almost kissing the horizon as it lowered behind the buildings of the town and she started walking again._

_Feeling a little scared, she hastened her footsteps, eyes staring out at her from every dark corner. Gripping the blue-colored fruit more firmly in her hand, she broke out into a jog, blood pounding in her ears. Something felt awfully wrong._

_She slowed down when her house became visible in the distance. She could see Touya in the backyard, sparring with Yuki. She breathed a sigh of relief. She was safe now. She opened her mouth to call out a greeting to the two boys just as a large hand slammed over her mouth, pulling her into the shadows of one the collapsed buildings._

_She struggled against her captor when something sharp pricked the skin of her neck and she felt her lids grow heavier. Her limbs felt like they were filled with lead and her head felt like it was shoved underwater. _

"_Tou-ya…" The lobster-apple slipped from her hand and rolled out into the street as her world grew dark._

Breathing heavily she bolted upright, feeling a little disorientated. In front of her, the hunter was also stirring into wakefulness, however unlike Sakura; his body was bound by ropes rendering him unable to move.

"Whea… wherrre am I?" he asked in a slurred tone. "Yyukito, sss tha you?"

"No," she answered blankly and saw the hunter's eye snap into focus.

"Sakura…" he breathed, "Where did you-"

"More than a hundred hunters…" she cut in, speaking in that same blank voice.

"What?"

"In this cycle alone," her tone grew frosty and casual at the same time as she looked at his face, "I have killed more than a hundred hunters." she watched his expression turn from perplexed, to shocked, to horrified. "I have lost count of how many I killed before that." His eyes narrowed in anger.

"What the hell are you talking about?" the blue-eyed man hissed.

"Shocked to hear it, hunter?" she sneered coldly.

"Why do you keep calling me that?" he asked hotly. "My name is _Touya._ And you can't talk to me like that."

"I can talk to you in any way I like, _hunter._" She leaned back a little.

"Don't you know who I am?" he asked the same question as before.

"Like I said earlier," she answered as she crossed her arms across her chest. "No. And I don't care about finding out either."

"Sakura, why-" he started, but just like before, he was interrupted by Sakura.

"You're either extremely lucky," she looked at him with nothing but hate in her eyes. Why had this man not left when she had given him the chance? Now the fool was going to get himself killed for sure. "Or very, _very _unlucky." She stood up, turning her back to his horrified expression, "It would be best for you if you don't let the info you have on me slip out to the crew of this ship." She slid the door open, "or you will know pain like no other." And then, before he could even respond, she was gone.

_**A/N: So, what do you think of that? I didn't end up killing Touya after all. But Sakura still doesn't trust him. Will she give him a chance to explain? Will he be able to figure out what's wrong? Or will I be able to prolong this one-sided hostility between Sakura and Touya? Find out in the next chapter. ;)**_


	17. Gaki

_**A/N: I had initially planned on updating on Sunday since I won't be at home on Saturday but then I figured, I could always put up a chapter earlier. So here's my treat to all of you though this chapter is dedicated to all of my reviewers especially Kyroine and talkstoangels77, the latter being the first one to post a response to my 'Blackwidow' challenge. Go and check it out. After you're done reading this of course. ;)**_

_**Enjoy!**_

Dinner that night was a quiet affair. Tension was thick in the air and even Syaoran seemed a little morose, as though aware of everything that was happening around him. But his eyes brightened and his face lit up when Fai produced a bar of chocolate for him.

"A prize for fixing the engine," the blond had said as he had handed him the treat.

Tomoyo had given the pilot a grateful smile as she had gotten up and ladled a bit of food onto a spare plate.

"We can't let him starve." She said quietly as she moved towards the door that led to the hallway.

Without another word, Kurogane climbed to his feet and followed.

"Is something wrong, Sakura?" Fai asked when the two had disappeared.

"No, everything is fine." She shook her head, looking down at her plate to hide her pale face behind her caramel tresses.

Her thoughts were racing. What if the hunter blabbered? If Kurogane and the others found out she was the reason the hunters had attacked their ship, would they turn her over? Maybe they would just drop her off at the next space-port?

"Tomoyo said you went into shock when you thought you killed that hunter." Fai said casually as he twirled his fork and wrapped the noodles around it.

"So?" she responded in an equally careless manner as she looked up. She was pretty sure she had managed to reign in her emotions, so it was safe to let him see her profile.

"Nothing." He shrugged, bringing the fork to his mouth. "I was just wondering why."

"I don't think I need to answer that question." She responded with a smile but her eyes held a dangerous glint.

"True," he returned her smile, though his ochre-eyes were filled with mischievousness. "But it makes one wonder. What could be so special about this hunter that you were left in a dazed state after attacking him?"

"It couldn't be the thought that you had taken someone's life for the first time, as you have let Tomoyo believe." He continued with the same smile when she remained silent. "Since you _did_ kill all those hunters in the Bazaar."

"That is none of your business, Fai." She answered icily, the smile vanishing from her lips as she narrowed her eyes.

"I'm afraid that it is." he seemed unaffected by her change in demeanor. "You see, what happens to Syaoran is my business."

"What does this have to do with Syaoran?" She knew what the blond pilot meant but she decided to play innocent anyways.

"You seem to know that hunter." Fai answered, that smile still in place, "and hunters, as you already know, work for Fei Wong Reed. I think you are smart enough to understand what that means."

"Syaoran won't be the only one who would end up in Fei Wong's hands if that hunter escapes." She answered coolly, leaning back in her seat.

"But if he cares about you, I don't think he would let it slip that you are here as well." Fai responded lightly.

"And what, pray tell, gave you the idea that a hunter _cares_ about me?"

But before the blond could answer, the thumping of footsteps alerted them to the fact that Tomoyo and Kurogane had returned.

"He's not speaking." The captain grunted angrily as he took his seat next to Syaoran.

Sakura breathed a sigh of relief that she quickly managed to turn into one of frustration before the others noticed.

"Why not?" she asked, hoping that she sounded curious.

"Because Tomoyo wouldn't let me hit him," he grumbled, glaring at the medic who only shook her head.

"He's injured as it is, Kurogane," she shook her head, her tone revealed her frustration at his behavior.

"Which is why he would talk with just a little bit of force." The captain answered, stabbing at his plate with a pair of chopsticks. Besides him, Syaoran quietly finished his dinner and held out his plate to Tomoyo. Understanding his gesture, the medic refilled his plate and set it in front of him.

"You are not going to hurt my patient." She told the red-eyed man in a stern tone.

"What?" Kurogane almost yelped, "He's a _hunter_ for fucks sake, Tomoyo."

"Kurogane…" the medic warned and he looked away, grumbling under his breath about how he could make the man talk with just a couple of punches if only she let him.

_I don't think he would speak if he doesn't want to. Nii-san can be very stubborn._ Sakura let her fork drop in her plate as she hastily stood up. How the hell did she _know_ that?

"I think I'll head to bed now." She announced quietly as she hurried out of the galley. She could feel Syaoran's questioning gaze on her back, but she ignored it as she left.

-0-

He couldn't feel the pain in his body, but his muscles felt stiff. His insides felt numb and oddly hollow.

He had found her. After almost six cycles, he had _found_ her. His baby sister. His little Kaijuu.

His Sakura.

But she did not recognize him. Surely he had not changed much over the cycles.

And even if he _had_ changed, which he hadn't, why did she refuse to recognize his name?

What the hell was going on? What had happened to her in the time she had been missing?

Did she have amnesia or something? Or was she purposefully refusing to admit to knowing who he was? After all, she _had_ threatened to kill him if he let slip who she was.

Oh God!

She had threatened to _kill_ him. And Touya knew she had not been joking. She had really meant what she had said. But she was his sister, damn it!

How could she have…

He gave a frustrated groan, wishing not for the first time that his hands were free so that he could tear some of his hair out.

What the fuck was going on?

His little Kaijuu had _killed_! She had admitted to killing more than a hundred hunters. No. She must have been lying. She couldn't hurt a fly, let alone kill a trained hunter. True, he and Yukito had taught her how to fight so that she could take care of herself but…

What had happened to her?

Since when had she started using throwing knives?

Oh God! She had attacked _him_ with those knives.

Why… why had she tried to kill her own brother?

The door gave a small beep and the sound of someone's quiet footsteps reached his ears as they approached him. He had been tied to the bed and his wounds had been properly treated. Not just the punctures on his back but all of them.

He was confused by the behavior of his captors. Especially that pretty, lavender-eyed medic.

She was too kind hearted to be a criminal, but he had seen her kill the hunters during their raid. So then, why was she treating him with such kindness?

The person, whoever it was, stopped a couple of feet away from him, but since his face was turned the other way he had no means of knowing who it was. With a soft grunt, he turned his head to look at his visitor.

It was a young amber-eyed man, around eighteen or nineteen cycles old, with messy chocolate brown hair, probably a couple of shades lighter than his own. He was dressed in a pair of loose fitting pajamas pants and a pale green sleeveless shirt. He was staring at Touya with a curious expression on his face.

"What do you want?" he asked in an irritated tone, noticing how raspy his voice sounded. Well, he _was_ thirsty.

The man did not answer, nor did he move his inquisitive gaze from his face. A couple of minutes passed this way. The staring freaked Touya out a little, and just when he was about to yell at the younger male to stop looking at him, the man stepped away from him, walking over to the table where a jug of water and a single steel mug rested with a straw placed in it.

Silently, the brown-eyed man filled the mug with water and walked over to him, bringing the straw near Touya's lips.

"Thirsty." He spoke softly, offering him the drink.

"Why do you care?" Touya responded acidly, refusing to put the proffered straw in his mouth.

"Thirsty." The brown-eyed teen repeated, offering him the water once more.

Touya gave him a suspicious look but his visitor did not look away. Heaving a sigh, he took the straw between his lips and sucked. The liquid cooled his tongue and wet his parched throat.

"Thanks." He said a little gruffly.

Wordlessly, the brunette set the mug on the floor beside him.

"You're a hunter." He spoke in that same, quiet tone as he looked back at Touya.

"So?"

"But… I'm not scared," he confided, looking a little confused. Touya thought something was out of place about the boy but he couldn't quite tell what it was.

"You are hurt." The teen said after a while when Touya did not say anything.

"No shit, Mr. Obvious ," he answered bitterly.

"Not her fault." The amber-eyes suddenly burned with fierce determination, all traces of confusion gone from his expression.

"What?"

"They took it away from her." he told him, his tone soft but carrying a strange sort of intensity.

"Are you on drugs or something?" Touya wondered out loud.

"And she broke." Those three words made Touya freeze. Who was this kid talking about? He couldn't be referring to… could he?

"Sakura?" he ventured, his heart thumping against his ribs.

"She can't help it," The boy's tone grew morose.

"What?" the captured hunter asked urgently, "What did they take away from her?"

"Her past." Those two words were all it took to send his world tumbling.

Her past? So she _did_ have amnesia.

"Who did it?" he growled angrily.

"The-"

"Syaoran?" Sakura's shocked voice cut off the teen before he could answer. "What are you doing in here?" She said, her eyes narrowing when they landed on Touya as she walked inside the room. "You're supposed to be in bed." she asked, turning her gaze towards the amber-eyed male. Touya noticed how her gaze softened and how her eyes shone with a sparkle as she looked at the boy she called Syaoran.

Immediately, he felt his blood boil in anger. Why was _his_ sister looking at him with such burning hate and looking at this… this Gaki, with that kind look?

"Stop glaring at him," she said coldly.

"Or what?" he sneered, "You'll throw a couple more knives at me?"

For a fraction of a second, hurt flashed in her eyes, but it was gone as soon as it came and Touya wondered if he had only imagined it.

"Let's go, Syaoran," she took the boy's hand and pulled him to his feet.

"What's wrong with the Gaki anyways?" he asked as she started leading the boy, Syaoran, towards the door.

She stopped walking, her body frozen for so long that Touya began to worry about her. Just when he opened his mouth to call out to her quiet voice cut him off. "He had an accident."

"Oh, so he went loco." He didn't know why he was being so rude. That boy _had_ after all given him water. And he had this aura of childish innocence about him. So then… was it because of the way Sakura had treated the two of them?

"You're mean," Syaoran spoke up all of a sudden, looking at him through narrowed eyes. But his expression was still somewhat innocent, which annoyed Touya to no end. He wasn't mean. This brat had stolen his sister from him. So he had all the right in the world to act the way he was.

"And you're a Gaki." He retorted simply, meeting his offended glare with one of his own.

"Ignore him, Syaoran." Sakura pulled at the brat's hand, who immediately turned around and began walking with her.

His heart clenched painfully as he watched her receding back.

She was leaving.

"Sakura," He called, but she ignored it.

She was leaving him again.

"Sakura," he called again, "don't leave." And for a second, her step faltered, but then she had her hand pressed against the panel next to the door.

Blood pounded in his ears as cold sweat formed on his brow. She couldn't leave him.

"Sakura, wait," he struggled against the ropes that held him in place hoping to somehow break them, but they were tightly secured and he was weak from exhaustion and blood loss. "Don't go." He pleaded, but the jade-eyed girl paid no attention to his voice as the door slid close behind her, leaving the struggling, injured hunter alone with his thoughts.

_She's gone…_

_**A/N: What do you guys think of Sakura's character? And did you like the interaction between Touya and Syaoran? I let Touya find out what's wrong with Sakura. Or part of it at least. ^_^ Wonder how long will it take for the two of them figure things out.**_


	18. Mindreader?

_**A/N: Alright guys, so I'm back with another chapter. Sorry I couldn't reply to the reviewers individually this time cuz I've been busy but Thank you all for reviewing. **_

_**I've got a bad news for all my readers though. Classes are gonna start this Monday and I've got a really tough schedule to keep up with this semester so the updates are gonna slow down a bit. Like instead of a new chapter every week, you guys will have to wait two weeks. Sorry about that but at the rate I'm writing I think it's better if I slow down with the updates instead of posting all the chapters and putting the fic on a Hiatus or something.**_

_**Anyhow, this chapter has got a cute SxS moment near the end but being the evil, slightly crazy author that I am, I'm gonna leave you all hanging at a cliffie. *insert evil laugh here***_

_**Ahem so yeah, enjoy!**_

Sakura was unable to sleep that night because her thoughts refused to leave her alone for long.

Voices kept echoing in her mind. Most of them belonged to the children she had identified as herself and the two hunters, but occasionally a kind voice belonging to a much older woman would join in. Sometimes a much older man would be with her as well.

Whenever the man spoke, a pair of bespectacled brown eyes would flash through her vision. For the woman, it was a pair of sparkling emerald eyes much like her own. Rubbing her eyes and groaning in frustration, Sakura sat up in bed, letting the sheets pools about her waist as she glared at the starry sky visible outside her window.

What the hell was wrong with her?

If these were her memories trying to return, why couldn't they just get the hell over with and come back to her already? If not, then they could just stay locked away. She would find out about who she was from external sources. She had no desire to be tortured by her memories.

A beep alerted her to an incoming transmission. Sliding out of her bed, she walked over to the table where her laptop was placed. With precise, practiced motions, she turned it on, gaining access to a secure line before accepting the incoming call.

The face of a man around fifty cycles old appeared in the screen. He had rather long, graying hair, small, beady eyes, rather large droopy ears and a very unattractive goatee.

Sakura masked her annoyance and revulsion with a fake but pleasant smile.

"Ryanban," she greeted with a polite nod.

"Cherry," the man replied, a leer spreading across his lips as his eyes took in her appearance.

"To what do I owe this call?" she spoke, letting a little bit of frostiness slip into her tone to let her client know she did not appreciate the way he was looking at her.

"You promised to get me the information I required by the twelfth of this month." His eyes snapped back to her face.

"And that is not for another six days," Sakura answered, narrowing her eyes in anger. "What is the meaning of contacting me like this?"

"Can't an old friend check in every once in a while?" he laughed loudly though Sakura could tell it was more than a little forced.

"Emphasis on the word _friend,_ Ryanban." She replied in a tone cold enough to freeze a blue-dwarf "Last I checked, _you_ do not fall in that category."

"Come now, Cherry," his gaze travelled a little lower, "no need to be so cold."

"If you were worried I might have forgotten about our deal," she folded her arms across her chest. Noticing how his expression grew a little disappointed a small smirk appeared across her lips, "I'm afraid you might have to contact someone else. When I say I will get the information you want at a specific time, I _will_ get it for you. Now if that was all, I think I have other urgent matters I need to attend to."

"You should keep in mind that I will not tolerate trickery." The man glowered, no doubt feeling offended at having been dismissed like a commoner.

"And you should keep in mind that I don't tolerate unfounded suspicions. I will have the information by the twelfth of this month."

"Oh, but we have a change in plans, Cherry," Ryanban smirked as he leaned back in his seat.

"What sort of change?" she frowned, not liking at all the way his eyes glinted in twisted contentment.

"I need that information by the ninth."

"I'm afraid that is not possible." She replied instantaneously. "Our deal was to get you what you want by the twelfth and that is what I intend to do. It was decided before the contract was finalized that the date can _not_ be changed under any circumstances."

"Surely you can overlook that clause in favor of me adding fifty percent more to the agreed price." He coaxed.

"Fifty percent?" she cocked a brow. "Boy, you must be desperate if you are willing to part with _that_ much of your precious money."

"I expect to see those files by then." He nodded, pleased that she had agreed to his terms so easily.

"I'm sorry, but I have some personal matter I will be dealing with at the time. You will get your files on the twelfth, for the amount of money agreed to in the contract and not a dram less or more. Have a good day now." And without waiting for his response, she cut off the connection.

"That bastard," she murmured, running a hand through her hair as she flopped at the edge of her bed. "Who the heck does he think he is? Just because he rules a whole planet, he thinks he can boss me around like that? Pfft… what an idiot." She laughed, shaking her head as she stood up again.

Her stomach rumbled and she looked down at the growling beast.

"I should have finished dinner at least." She sighed, heading towards the door, wondering if she could find something to eat at this time of the night.

"No shit, Mr. Obvious ," she heard the hunter's bitter voice as she passed the door to the room that held him, making her stop in her tracks. Who was in there with him this late?

"Not her fault." And that provided her with the answer.

"What?" she heard the hunter question.

"They took it away from her." Syaoran answered softly and her gut knotted painfully.

Why was he telling that to that hunter?

"Are you on drugs or something?" the imprisoned man asked but Sakura only heard it vaguely.

"And she broke." Sakura's heart skipped several beats, leaving her rather breathless. What the hell was that hunter doing? Why was he asking Syaoran? "She can't help it," she heard the teen say.

"What?" the captured hunter asked eagerly, "What did they take away from her?"

"Her past." Syaoran answered without a moment's hesitation.

No. No. No! The hunter wasn't supposed to know.

He was the enemy, and she could not afford to let her enemy know her weakness. That would be stupid and suicidal.

"Who did it?"

She had to stop Syaoran before the hunter found out anything else. Without any conscious thought, her hand slammed on the panel to unlock the door. Quietly she stepped inside.

"The-" the amber-eyed male started but she cut him off.

"Syaoran? What are you doing in here?" Her gaze travelled to the hunter bound to the bed, a steel mug placed next to Syaoran. Had he perhaps called him in here on the pretense of getting water? She narrowed her eyes, letting the blue-eyed man know that she did not trust him.

"You're supposed to be in bed." She looked back at the brown-haired boy and couldn't help but soften her tone. This wasn't his fault, so she shouldn't be angry at him.

Out of the corner of her eye, she saw the hunter glower at Syaoran and her dislike for the man rose even further. "Stop glaring at him." she used the same cold tone that she had used with Ryanban.

"Or what?" he sneered, "You'll throw a couple more knives at me?"

Throw knives at him? How could her Nii-san think that of her…

Nii-san? What the hell? She had to get out of there.

"Let's go, Syaoran," she grabbed a hold of his hand and pulled him to his feet, leading him towards the door.

"What's wrong with the Gaki anyways?" she heard the hunter ask curiously.

_He is not a brat!_ A voice in her head protested and her whole body froze.

Gaki meant brat. But how did she know that?

"He had an accident." She heard herself answer in a quiet tone.

"Oh," the hunter's reply sounded condescending, "so he went loco."

Sakura had difficulty controlling her urge to beat the bastard senseless. How dare he… His boss was the reason Syaoran was in this state in the first place. So then, what gave that hunter the right to make fun of him?

"You're mean," Syaoran's tone was quiet but was there was anger in it. Not the sort of anger she had felt him radiate near those hunters when his seal had activated, but the sort of anger that hinted at underlying hurt, as though he had not expected the hunter to say something like that to him. That much was clear in his glare as he looked at the blue-eyed man.

"And you're a Gaki." The hunter retorted casually, though he was returning Syaoran's glare. But there was no hurt in it, only satisfaction. As she saw a smirk spread across his lips, she felt irritated and disgusted by the man. No, not disgusted. Just irritated.

Why couldn't he just accept Syaoran for who he was? Why was he being so mean to him?

Wait a second. Why did it matter to her how that hunter acted? Why was she feeling this irritation for him not accepting the amber-eyed teen? That hunter meant nothing to her. So it shouldn't matter, right?

A small voice in her head answered that it did matter but Sakura pushed it away.

"Ignore him, Syaoran." She advised the teen to do what she had done and pulled at his hand. Immediately, Syaoran turned and began following her.

"Sakura," He called after her, but she ignored it.

"Sakura," he called again, "don't leave." His voice sounded so broken right then, and for a fraction of a second she wanted to listen to him and stay by his side forever, but the moment passed and she pressed the panel to slide the door open.

"Sakura, wait," she could hear him struggling behind her but she had examined his bonds earlier and she knew they would hold.

"Don't go." He begged, but Sakura turned a deaf ear to his voice. This wasn't right. He was a hunter. She wasn't supposed to feel anything for him except anger and hatred. Her heart wasn't supposed to break and shatter at the thought of leaving him alone.

She had to get out of there and get something to eat. And then maybe take some sleeping pills to get some rest. Hunger and a lack of sleep was messing with her head.

"He thinks I stole you from him," Syaoran said in that quiet, husky voice of his, making Sakura jump. She had forgotten he was still with her.

"It doesn't matter what he thinks," she replied, her tone betraying her annoyance. Next to her, Syaoran stopped walking, freeing his hand from her grasp as he looked at her with an expression of hurt.

Confused, she met his stare. It took a couple of minutes for her to realize why he looked so upset.

"Oh, I'm not mad at you, Syaoran," she smiled, softening her tone. "I'm just angry at that jerk in there." She nodded her head towards the door that they had just exited from and a soft chuckle formed in Syaoran's throat. A small smile spread across his lips as he grabbed her hand again.

"He's just angry and scared," Syaoran confided seriously as he led her to the galley. Once there, he dropped her hand, pulling out two plates from one of the cabinets before opening the chiller next to the stove and extracting a plastic container. Setting all three things at the counter, he opened the container and ladled the plates with the noodles that had been left at dinner.

"I bet he is," she laughed lightly, wondering how he knew that she was hungry as he handed her one plate after replacing the now-almost-empty container back in the chiller. But instead of walking over to the table, he walked out into the corridor, towards the viewing bay.

Quietly, Sakura followed, sitting down next to him as he slid down the wall opposite the glass window. The two ate in silence, staring outside at the beautiful spiral disc of stars that occupied more than half the visible space outside. They were currently travelling next to the Milky Way.

The galaxy that housed the Solar System. The place where the first of the humans were thought to have lived on a small planet named Earth. But that was millennia ago. The Solar System was no more. It had been destroyed in some sort of calamity so even if humans had originated from that place, they could no longer return to it.

"Magic," Syaoran spoke up all of a sudden.

"Huh?"

"It was destroyed by magic." He replied, staring at the cluster of stars with a distant gaze. "The Home Planet."

A chill went down Sakura's spine as she heard him say that. "Home Planet" had been the name given to Earth by the few scientists who vehemently defended the theory that their ancestors had actually occupied that place. How did Syaoran know what she had been thinking about?

"You drew Mother," he abruptly changed the topic, tearing his gaze away from the window to look at her with an intense look in his eyes. Sakura felt like she was drowning in the depths of those pools of liquid amber. A faint fluttering feeling welled up in her stomach as her limbs felt paralyzed.

"You can keep the sketch if you want," she answered, not even realizing how breathless she sounded.

His face inched a little closer to hers.

"I can keep it?" he asked, sounding surprised and a little confused.

"Yeah." She breathed as she felt herself lean closer to him.

Her shoulder prickled unpleasantly but she ignored the feeling as they drew even closer.

"Thank you," he murmured before lightly pressing his lips against hers in a sweet and innocent peck. His lips felt soft and warm, but he pulled away before she could decipher anything else about him.

Slowly she opened her eyes, not having realized when she had closed them but she squeezed them shut almost immediately when without any warning the seal on her right shoulder exploded in white-hot, burning pain.

She stifled the cry before it escaped her mouth, but she knew there were tears running down her face as she clutched at the mark. She waited for the counter-seal to start its work but was only disappointed when it did not activate. Her heart pounded against her ribs as her ears rang and her head spun.

A couple of minutes went by in this manner but she found it difficult to draw a breath.

"Syao-ran…" she managed to say, "get…help…" and then she collapsed.


	19. Revealed Bond

_**A/N: Hello again everybody. I had quite a busy week. I moved to the hostel for one thing so no more daily travelling of two hours for me. Yay! ^_^**_

_**I was attacked by more bunnies yet again so expect another post-TRC fic involving what you guys loved so much in 'Dead' though Kuro **_**will**_** be alive in this one. That much I can assure you. ;) ;)**_

_**Ahem… anyhow, it's my younger sister's birthday this coming Wednesday and I can't decide on what to get her. She's turning seventeen so, any ideas?**_

_**Getting back to this chapter, I shall keep you waiting no more. A pressing question is answered for Sakura through her dreams though whether she will remember the answer to it or not, I'll just let you read and find out the answer to that. ;)**_

_**Enjoy!**_

"_Kaa-san?" she asked quietly as a woman kissed her on her forehead._

"_Yes?" she smiled lovingly. Sakura took in her profile, long, wavy grey-hair, a kind angelic face, and emerald eyes very much like her own. _

_This was her mother!_

_Sakura's heart fluttered with joy. She remembered what her mother looked like!_

"_Kaa-san, why was Tou-san so worried today?"_

"_Some bad people want to take away the good magicians from our world." The woman, her mother! gently brushed Sakura's hair back from her face. _

"_But he's going to stop the bad people, right?" she asked, biting her lip, feeling worried for all those good magicians. Like her Nii-san's best friend, Yukito-san._

"_Yes, he is." she smiled, quietly reaching over to her side table to switch off the night lamp._

"_I know he will," Sakura returned the smile, "Tou-san is very strong and I'm gonna pray for him tomorrow, so there is no way those bad guys will win."_

"_That's a very good idea, sweetheart." Her mother kissed her again, "but you should go to sleep now."_

"_Goodnight, Kaa-san," she mumbled sleepily as her mother left the room._

_A continuous jolting woke her up. Puzzled, she raised an arm to her eyes, rubbing at them sleepily. Why was her bed jolting up and down? And why was her room moving?_

_She tried to get up, failing to notice that she was slipping._

"_Baka!" A familiar voice yelled at her, but it was somewhat younger, more childish for some reason. A pair of strong arms readjusted her position. "Don't let go of me!" This wasn't her room and she wasn't in her bed. She was on her Nii-san's back, holding onto his broad shoulders as he ran._

"_Nii-san, where are we going?" she asked as the boy kept racing down an almost endless staircase. She knew this place, but why were they going there now of all times?_

"_We're going to the secret place," her Nii-san replied. She frowned in confusion. Hadn't her mother and father told them that the secret place was somewhere they were supposed to go to when something bad happened?_

_When they reached the bottom of the staircase, the boy removed her from his back and strode towards the far wall. That was where the entrance to the secret place was supposed to be, somewhere in the middle of those ancient runes that marked the entire chamber._

_These walls had magic in them. But it was not something dangerous or threatening so she had no need to fear its presence. It felt warm and comforting. Like the presence of her mother and father._

"_Nii-san," she asked quietly, knowing not to speak loudly. "Where are Otou-san and Okaa-san?"_

_The dark-haired boy's whole body froze for a while as an anguished expression passed over his features._

"_Don't worry about them," he replied in a somewhat strained voice, "right now we need to get inside."_

_He drew a knife and made a small cut on his forefinger. Immediately, blood welled up from the wound, which he smeared on a rune near the bottom of the wall. "I'll tell you where they are later."_

_The scene flickered in her vision and all of a sudden she realized that she was inside a vast chamber, sitting near the edge of a pool of water. The silence that surrounded her felt suffocating, even though she was enjoying the way the light changed patterns underwater as her fingers played with the liquid._

"_Nii-san?" In the end, she broke that oppressing silence, "I know I promised to stay quiet, but how much longer are we going to have to stay down here before Otou-san and Okaa-san come and get us?"_

_She heard the quiet rustling of clothes as the boy she addressed as Nii-san sighed and knelt down next to her. He simply sat there for a while, staring at the water, as though trying to come to terms with something. As though his decision was made, he turned around all of a sudden and wrapped his arms around her small frame, pulling her into a comforting hug._

_She liked the feeling of having him hold her like that, like a brother…_

_Brother…_

_Nii-san meant _brother_!_

_This brown haired boy was her brother!_

_As this reality dawned on her, everything came freezing to a halt._

_Thoughts raced at the rate of a million parsecs per second through her min. _

_That hunter that she had attacked to save Tomoyo's life… That hunter that she had run from back at Clow… That hunter that she had threatened to kill… He was…_

_He was…_

Sakura,_ She heard a voice call her name as magic tugged at her being, trying to pry her from the boy's arms. Her brother's arms._

Sakura,_ the voice repeated insistently, more magic entering her system. She felt the soothing coolness of her counter seal activate._

_Nii-san… she felt something wet and warm trail down her cheeks as the scene around her grew smoky and hazy. That word meant brother._

_That hunter was her…_

Sakura, wake up._ Someone called out to her as the curse seal began to relinquish its hold on her body. She felt herself waking._

_Slowly, like her surroundings vaporizing and dispersing into the darkness, the memories of all that she had seen in her dream were also pushed to the very back of her mind, forgotten._

"Sakura," the person called again, shaking her arm lightly, "Sakura, wake up."

"Fai?" she blearily opened her eyes and saw the blond pilot's concerned face peering down at her.

"You're awake," he beamed at her, "How are you feeling?"

"What happened?" she asked with a slur as she attempted to sit, but the golden-eyed man pushed her back. "Tomoyo asked me to not let you get out of bed until she sees you."

"What happened?" She repeated her question as she rested her spinning head back on the pillow.

"The curse mark on your shoulder activated," Fai answered in a tone that made it difficult for her to decipher what he might be thinking. Fear gripped her heart. Fai knew about the curse mark. He knew about the- Wait a minute… _How_ did he know it was a curse mark and not just a tattoo?

"How did you-" she began but the pilot cut her off with a slight shake of his head. "Later, I can hear Tomoyo coming." And before she could ask how he knew _that_ the door to her room slid open and the lavender-eyed medic stepped inside.

"You woke up," she smiled at her as she walked up to her. "How are you feeling now?"

"A bit dizzy but I'm okay now." She tried returning Tomoyo's smile, but it came out as a grimace when her shoulder throbbed. Immediately that foreign magic that she had felt in her dream rushed through her system and the counterseal activated.

"I see," the lavender-eyed woman placed a hand at her forehead and nodded, "your temperature is back to normal. That's good." Taking out a small flashlight, she shined it in her eyes before removing it, observing the way Sakura's pupils dilated.

"Hmm…" the medic hummed thoughtfully as she placed her fingers on Sakura's wrist to take her pulse. "Well, I'm not really sure why you had that fit but everything seems to be okay now. If you feel strange or if any of the symptoms recur, let me know immediately, alright?"

After receiving Sakura's nod of confirmation, the medic climbed to her feet and started to leave. "Oh, before I forget, the hunter that we captured requested that he wanted to see you."

The face of a chocolate-haired boy with mischievous ocean-blue eyes and a teasing grin on his lips flashed before her vision and her heart jolted as the word _Nii-san_ rang inside her head. What did that foreign word mean? She felt like she should know that by now but strangely enough, she couldn't recall the meaning.

Sakura shook her head, "I don't want to see him."

Tomoyo nodded in understanding, no doubt thinking that Sakura did not want to confront the man she thought she had almost killed. "Alright," she turned towards the door, placing her palm on the panel to slide it open.

"I better go check on Syaoran again, once I'm done with Touya." She mumbled under her breath, but Sakura caught what she said anyways. However, the jade-eyed girl waited till the medic was gone before looking at the pilot questioningly.

"He's been hiding in the cargo bay since last night after he came to get us." Fai informed her with a shake of his head, "He's not talking at all and we haven't been able to make him leave his hiding place in the last twenty-four hours."

"Oh."

"What made that seal activate?" the pilot inquired.

"I'm not sure," she frowned, trying to remember the events that had led to her passing out. She had been in the viewing bay with Syaoran, eating noodles and talking about… something. And then he had mentioned the sketch she had absentmindedly drawn and she had told him that he could keep it. Then…

She felt her stomach flutter pleasantly as heat rushed to her cheeks as she remembered how sweetly Syaoran had kissed her. And then her shoulder had exploded. Paling, she quickly looked at the right side of her body and found everything completely intact.

So it had just been a feeling. It hadn't been real. She gave a relieved sigh.

"How did you know it was a seal?" she looked at the mage with somewhat mistrusting eyes.

"I'm a mage, even though my magic is not very strong, I can still tell about these sorts of things when they are active." He replied like it was no big deal. "That overlapping seal, it's designed to contain the first mark, isn't it?"

"Yeah," she answered shortly.

"It must have been a very powerful magician who designed it."

"It is," she nodded, "she's the ruler of Infinity."

"You know Yuuko Ichihara?" he asked in bewilderment.

"She's my boss," Sakura answered in a casual tone.

"I see," he grinned in response, "no wonder you're not worried about killing hunters."

"Everything has its advantages." She shrugged.

"They do indeed." He agreed as he climbed to his feet. "Well, I'll let you rest for now. I think I'll go and see how our prisoner is doing. Kurgz hit him pretty hard last night when he wouldn't shut up about being allowed to see you. Tomoyo has not let him enter the holding cell after that." He laughed lightly, "So now it's up to me to find out why they attacked our ship."

And then he left, leaving Sakura alone to contemplate.

Her thoughts drifted back to Syaoran for some reason.

'_Thank you'_ his soft voice rang inside her head and her heart fluttered.

Fai said that the teen had been hiding since last night. But why would he be hiding? Surely he couldn't be… Could he?

Was he blaming _himself_ for what happened to Sakura? It wasn't his fault. Not really. It was the seal. But it had activated right after he had kissed her, so maybe he thought something happened to her because of the kiss.

Abruptly, she sat up in bed. Syaoran was hiding again because he thought he hurt her.

And for some reason, that bothered her. He shouldn't be feeling guilty for what happened. Swinging her legs out of bed, Sakura made her decision. She would go talk to him.

With that thought in mind, she slipped on her shoes and quietly exited her room.

"I want to see Sakura!" she heard the hunter's voice demand as she passed outside his door. "I heard that brain-addled brat calling out for your medic last night. I want to know what happened to her."

"Syaoran is the captain's younger brother. And Miss Sakura is a passenger onboard this ship," she heard Fai answer coolly, "Now you on the other hand are nothing more than a prisoner. Just because you have been treated with kindness so far does not mean that we will continue treating you in the same manner if you talk about him like this."

"But I-" the prisoner started only to be cut off by Tomoyo, "I informed her about your request when she woke up but she does not wish to see you."

"She wouldn't say something like that." The hunter spoke angrily.

"Oh?" that was Fai, "And why wouldn't she? You are not her brother. She is not obligated to see you just because _you_ want to. We can't and we won't force her in here. Besides, you're only a hunter."

Sakura's heart jolted in pain when she heard Fai speak about the hunter not being her brother. That feeling of emptiness returned in full swing but Sakura squashed it down forcefully. She had left her room to look for Syaoran, not listen in on what the hunter had to say. Deciding to finish that task, she stepped away from the door and began making her way towards her destination.

_**A/N: And yes, I made her forget the answer. There is a reason why that happened but are any of you willing to guess what that might be? How do you think Syaoran will react to her presence? And what of Touya? Will he get to see her? Or will Sakura keep on avoiding him? Lol. You guys might know the answer to that already so here's a different question. How many chapters do you think it will be before I let her find out about him being her brother? Cyber-cookies and a sneak peak at one of my upcoming fics (yes multiple fics. I told you the bunnies have been really active this past week) for the person who gets it right.**_

_**That's it for now.**_

_**Till next time.**_

_**-Nims.**_


	20. Feeling Emotions

_**A/N: so sorry everyone. I had almost forgotten I ws supposed to update this week. Anywho, you guys have to wait no more since the promised cuteness is here. Ummm…. I did promise you guys some SyaoSaku cuteness, right?**_

_**If I didn't well then… you didn't hear me say anything.**_

_**Kuro-toffee popcorn: You have got to be the weirdest person I have ever had the misfortune to meet. And what the heck is it with the *eye twitch* toffee popcorn?**_

_**Me: well… see I have recently discovered the newest love of my life and I decided to let you have the honor of being named after it.**_

_**Kuro-towel: *eye twitches* my *twitch* name *another twitch* is *twitch some more* KUROGANE!**_

_**Me: *points and screams* Aaaa… run for your life. It's the attack of the killer-towel!**_

_**Kuro-chocolate: *draws Ginryuu and starts chasing* STOP NAMING ME AFTER INANIMATE OBJECTS, WOMAN!**_

_**Me: *as she runs* does that mean I can still name you after food?**_

_**Kuro-mad red eyed guy :*shoots a deadly glare*NO!**_

_**Me: how about …?**_

_**Kuro- :*swings a sword halting the author from typing out the next creatively thought name* Kurogane! My name is Kurogane! K U R O G A N E! Get it right! **_

_**Me: *holds up hands whil backing away from the crazed demon* alright. Alright. I get it. Kurogane. You are to be called nothing but that.**_

_**Kurone: *calms down and sheaths sword* finally. *blinks and rereads his name while the author makes a dash for the angry-ninja-proof room* Wait a minute…**_

_**Me: *slams door and locks it up* ahem… and now as I was saying before I was so rudely interrupted by our resident slightly unstable, angry ninja, please, go ahead and Enjoy!**_

_**Don't forget to tell me what you think once you're done. ;)**_

"Syaoran?" she called quietly as she stepped down the stairs, her eyes searching for the dark-haired teen.

He did not reply, but she did hear the soft rustle of his clothes as he shuffled to hide behind some crates. "Syaoran, will you please come out of there?" she coaxed gently as she walked towards the back of the room. Her footsteps echoed lightly as she moved closer, but a soft whimper made her stop.

"No." he spoke softly.

"Why not?"

"You hurt," was his guilt-filled response.

"But it wasn't your fault."

This time he did not reply.

"Syaoran, you didn't do it." She repeated earnestly.

"I felt it." Sakura could almost visualize him hugging his legs closer to his chest as he said that. "Always… feel it."

"But that doesn't mean you make it happen." Once again, she began walking towards the crate he was hiding behind.

"You're not mad… at me," he sounded surprised.

"Of course not," She smiled, finally stepping into his view. He raised his head from his knees to look at her face with wide-eyed wonder. Still smiling, Sakura settled on the floor to his right.

"I passed out because I have a curse mark on my shoulder," she explained, locking her gaze with his. "It activates every now and then but a friend put a seal on it so I don't have to worry about it often."

"I…" Syaoran hesitated, looking uncertainly at her face for confirmation to go on.

She nodded, with the gentle smile still on her lips. Still appearing nervous, he unhooked his arms from around his legs, gazing at the palms of his hands with a far off look as he spoke.

"I can feel…" he clasped them together, "what everyone can…" he wrung his fingers; fidgeting in unease, "anger… hurt… sadness…" he looked back up, his beautiful amber-eyes dulled with unfathomable emotions, "…pain"

"Are you…" Sakura couldn't help but gasp as her eyes widened in shock, "Are you trying to say that you could feel what it _did_ to me?"

Quickly, as though afraid she would hit him for it, he averted his gaze.

"Oh my God… I'm _so_ sorry," her whispered apology made him look back up, his gold-flecked orbs silently questioning her.

The image of a dark room enshrouded in a suffocating haze flashed in her vision, a young boy thrashing against the bonds that held him. A shudder ran down her spine as his screams of pain reverberated in her mind. She couldn't remember who it was or where she saw that happen, but a feeling in gut told her that it had been the same boy who sat before her.

"No one should ever have to feel that, let alone someone like you… You've already been through so much. You don't deserve to suffer like that."

Her thoughts drifted to what Tomoyo and Kurogane might feel knowing what their adoptive brother went through, but before she could delve any deeper, Syaoran's voice cut her train of thought.

"They… don't know…" He was now looking outside the small porthole in the wall that the two of them were facing.

"Why didn't you tell them?" she followed his line of sight and saw the stars spread across the night sky like diamonds on black velvet.

The teen remained silent for so long that Sakura wondered if he had even heard her question. Still not looking at her, his right hand reached out for hers. He closed his eyes as his fingers closed around her tiny hand which he then lifted and brought to the left side of his chest.

"I can't," he uttered softly, before placing her hand above his heart. A jolt of magic rushed through her arm and spread out into the rest of her body as soon as she touched him. She took in a sharp breath as she felt emotions that were not her own fill up her heart.

Irritation, and anger. _Why did Kurogane have to hit him so hard? That hunter had no right to talk about Syaoran like that but did Fai have to be so rude while talking to him? _

Bittersweet joy. A_t least Syaoran opened up a little. He even fixed the ship. Maybe… Maybe he is finally recovering from that trauma?_

Worry. _But whatever happened last night is making him go back to hiding from us all. I'll have to ask Sakura about that._

Concern. _I wonder what made her have that fit. I hope she doesn't have a relapse. It was heartbreaking, seeing her go through all that pain. Fai said it wasn't the case but why do I get the feeling that somehow her tattoo was responsible for that?_

There was a lot more but before she could decipher what they were, the emotions shifted like a sheet of water and new feelings rushed into her heart.

Annoyance. _Stupid, blond mage. Did he _have_ to go do… God knows _what_ in God knows _where_? I'll wring his scrawny little neck and then glue his ass to this chair. _Then…_ I'll go check on the kid._

Worry. _The kid is hiding again. What happened last night? He didn't have another panic attack, did he? But Tomoyo would have told me about it if he had. He had been fine while she had been treating that girl._

Irritation. _Why did Tomoyo have to stop me from hitting that bastard? That hunter would be singing like a canary if she'd just let me have a go at him._

More worry. _She's tending to him all by herself. _

Anger. _Where the fuck is that blond bastard?_

The emotions rippled again and a torrent of sensations rushed through her body. Joy. Exasperation. Fear. Anxiousness. Confusion. Guilt. Terror. Glee. Pain. Amazement… all those feelings entered her body at the same time and she felt like she was going crazy. She was having trouble distinguishing between what she felt herself and what those around her were feeling.

Soon the line that distinguished her own emotions from everyone else's blurred and completely vanished, leaving her to experience it all at once.

And then all of a sudden, everything was gone, leaving her feeling hollow and empty. Sakura blinked. Once. Twice.

"I can't," Syaoran repeated his earlier words as quietly as he could, his intense amber-eyed gaze boring into hers. Slowly, the feelings that she knew as her own returned to her.

"I won't tell them if you don't want me to." She spoke softly, her mind beginning to race. Syaoran had to feel that every single moment he was awake?

Feeling the absence of a pleasant warmth, Sakura looked down, realizing that he had released the hand that he had placed on his heart.

"I did that." He told her simply, turning his head to avoid looking at her as she raised her eyes back to level with his. Still feeling overwhelmed by what she had just discovered, it took a while for Sakura to remember what it was that he was admitting to having done.

"No" she answered firmly, "You didn't." refusing to meet her gaze, he once again caught her right hand but this time, instead of moving it to his chest, he guided it to her own heart. Magic rushed into her body from the spot and Sakura found herself falling in darkness.

_She was chained to a wall. The room she was in was cold, damp and dark. She could hear water dripping somewhere nearby. Quiet footsteps approached her, a man stepped into her view but his face remained obscured by the darkness._

"_This is her?" he asked softly._

"_Yes," a heavy, gravelly voice answered, its tone colored with a twisted sort of pleasure._

"_But she's so young." The man protested weakly._

"_That doesn't matter. The younger, the better I say." The owner of the heavy voice laughed and the man standing in front of her cringed._

_"You have dallied enough." The heavy voice stopped laughing abruptly, taking on a harsher tone. "Now start working or you know what the consequences will be."_

_The man standing before her fisted his hands, shaking in silent rage, but stepped closer to her anyways._

"_Please," her scared voice echoed off the walls, "let me go." She cried as tears streamed down her face. Unable to look at her kidnappers, she lowered her face._

"_I'm sorry it had to be this way," he apologized, bringing his hands closer to her temples as he forced her to lock her gaze with his own. His eyes, the color of a stormy, blue ocean, were the only distinguishable feature of his face._

Another spark of magic went through her body and the scene changed.

_Sakura reached around, grabbing the hunter who had tried to sneak up on her by the front of his shirt. Enhancing her strength with magic, she heaved him as far as she could across the street, wincing mentally at the crash that sounded when he flew through the front window of a small shop. Turning around, she prepared to start running again._

"_Aiyah!"A voice shrieked from inside the shop she had just sent a hunter through._

_Sakura paused. True, the hunters asked for it by coming after her, but if there was someone else in that shop who had gotten hurt…Deciding to take a quick peek, she hurried over._

_She peered in over the dead body of the hunter. Standing behind a counter a few feet back into the store was an elderly man. The colour of his skin was indiscernible, due to the fact that his face, the only part of him she could see, was rapidly turning bright red._

"_Are you ok?" Sakura asked, glancing about for any sign of her pursuers._

_The man looked up, noticing her for the first time. "You! Did you do this to my shop?"_

_However, Sakura's attention had already focused itself on the objects hanging on the wall behind him. "Hey, can I borrow one of those?" She asked, pointing to the hoverboards on the wall._

_If it was possible, the man's face turned even redder. "You break my shop window, and you want to know if you can borrow some of my merchandise?"_

"_I-" Suddenly, she heard shouts, and reacting instinctively, jumped into the building, huddling against the wall underneath the broken window as several magical blasts flew over her head._

_Standing up, she asked the shop owner, "So can I have one or not?"_

_Tearing one of the still-intact boards off the wall, he threw it at her with a strength that did not match his small frame. "Take it! Take anything, just get out of my shop!"_

"Yeah, poor guy." She said offhandedly, feeling relieved when she heard Syaoran's quiet chuckle, "I think I might have given him a heart attack."

A small laugh issued from Syaoran's mouth as he let go of her hand. It dropped to her lap as she looked at him in surprise. He had just _laughed_.

"Oh, so you liked that one, huh?" she grinned, glad to have been able to take his mind off of the thing that bothered him enough to make him hide down here. "Alright then, how about I tell you about the time I singlehandedly managed to demolish the entire FWR spaceport?"

He offered her a brilliant smile in return, his amber-orbs shining with mischievous delight.

"Or maybe," she spoke in a contemplative tone, "I could tell you about the time I blew up the Reed fleet ship?"

He shrugged, as though giving her the choice to decide.

"Hmm…" she tapped her chin in mock-thoughtfulness, "you know what? I'll tell you about them both, but first you have to do something for me."

His eyes expressed the question that he could not voice.

"You'll have to block off those emotions for me. You're not going to feel what the others are feeling, just what you are feeling. I know you can do that." For some reason, she knew that the magic that helped him feel those emotions worked only when the person was using it willingly.

So Syaoran could choose not to feel that, if he wanted to. Why she knew that, she didn't know. And she couldn't bring herself to care about it either.

Hesitantly, he nodded.

"Good," she encouraged him with a smile. "You do that, and I'll tell you all about it, okay?"

"Okay." This time, he bobbed his head with a lot more enthusiasm. Just like a little kid agreeing to do their homework to get a treat. He caught hold of her hand and closed his eyes. A small frown made its way to his face as he concentrated on doing what was asked of him, but Sakura did not feel his aura flare up to life which meant he had everything under his control.

"Done?" she asked once he opened his eyes again.

"Yes," was the reply she was looking for, and that was what she got.

"Alright, so, I'll start with the time I blew up the fleetship…"

-0-

"… and that is how I single-handedly decimated the entire spaceport." She finished with a grin as she looked at the teen sitting next to her. Syaoran's grin was a perfect replica of her own, his eyes shining brightly as he returned her gaze.

Her stomach rumbled loudly, making her laugh, "Oh, boy. After all that talking, I sure am hungry." She climbed to her feet as Syaoran's face transformed into a look of disappointment. "I wonder what Tomoyo cooked for dinner tonight, don't you, Syaoran?"

The chocolate-haired teen looked uncertainly towards the door that led to the corridor before looking back at her.

"Let's go see, hmm?" she offered him her right hand and he brightened immediately.

Together, the two made their way towards the viewing bay, passing the glass window that displayed the brilliant sky outside with the gas clouds shining beautifully with the light of the twinkling stars. However, it was not the beauty of the sight that made Sakura freeze when she glanced outside.

No, it was the back vessel that bore the crimson insignia of a bat that had her going pale with fear.

"Syaoran," she breathed, her voice nothing louder than a hoarse whisper.

_Kishimu_

That was the name of the ship.

"Hide…" she told him, letting go of his hand.

"But…"

"Now!" she almost yelled. "Go, hide! And don't come out till I come and find you."

Wide-eyed and trembling a little, the chocolate-haired teen raced back towards the cargo hold. Once satisfied that he would do as he was told, she turned her attention back to the ship.

"You fucking bastard…" she hissed in anger, realizing it a little too late how that man had found her.

Closing her eyes, she took in a deep breath, releasing her aura into the ship to search for the one person she was looking for.

_We've got company._ Was all she said in the telepathic message since the next second a loud boom resonated inside the small freighter as the Kishimu docked the smaller ship.

_**A/N: there you have it. I revealed a bit more of Sakura's past to you all. Who do you think is the mysterious man with stormy blue eyes? Why did he do what he did to Sakura? And how does Sakura know about Syaoran being able to shut off the emotions of others? And who could be onboard the Kishimu? **_

_**To find the answers to a few of these questions, you'll have to tune in two weeks time. ;P **_

_**Or… you could guess and tell me your answers via review. *wink wink***_

_**-Nims**_


	21. Surprise

_**A/N: Update time! I'm back with another chapter for you guys.**_

_**Enjoy!**_

A hiss of pain escaped his lips as the medic removed the bandages on his back and they tore off the coagulated blood, making a few of the stitches bleed anew.

But unlike before, the lavender-eyed medic did not apologize for her roughness in dealing with his wounds. He supposed calling that brat 'brain-addled' was a bit too low. But even though Touya felt bad about it, knowing from Sakura that the Gaki was like the way he was due to an accident, his pride wouldn't allow him to apologize.

After all, he was being held prisoner against his will in a ship of fugitives.

A patrol had alerted the hunters to their presence, and since the infamous Yuui had been rumored to be onboard the ship, twenty men had been sent to bring him in. Yuui's crimes had been classified information but it had been clearly stated in his wanted form that he had stolen something of great value from the Reed Empire.

Touya was wondering about the authenticity of the report since even after so many days, he had yet to see this Yuui person. That blond pilot nearly fit the description but he had yellow-colored eyes. Yuui's eyes were blue. So this guy couldn't be him, could he?

The medic applied a balm to the bleeding stitches before neatly taping pads of sterile gauze over them.

"It's not his fault he's the way he is, you know." She said in an irritable tone as she moved away from his bunk, collecting her things and placing them back in the first aid kit.

"I was told." Touya answered quietly.

"I'd appreciate it if you didn't talk about Syaoran like that again, ever." She snapped the lid of the box shut and started walking towards the door.

"I'll try not to bring him up then," he acquiesced with a nod.

"Why do you… Why do you want to see Sakura so badly?" she asked all of a sudden, turning around to look at him with an exasperated frown marring her features.

"Because… she's my little Kaijuu." He mumbled more to himself than to her.

"I'm sorry. What?" she asked.

But before he could answer, a loud boom rang throughout the ship, making the two look towards the roof in alarm since that was where the noise seemed to have originated.

"What the…" the medic slowly set down the medical kit on the floor and inched her way towards the door, cautiously slipping it open. She disappeared in the corridor, leaving Touya alone in the room, shackled to the bed by his hands.

Not three minutes had passed when he heard a gun being shot followed by two simultaneous cries of "Fai!"

"You bastards!" he heard the red-eyed captain of the ship snarl at the same time as he heard Sakura's voice yell profanities in rage.

What was going on out there?

"No!" that was the medic. Everything was silent after that till a man Touya had never seen before emerged at the door. Breaking the chain that connected his manacles to the bed, the man waved his gun at Touya to get up and start walking.

With the gun pointed at his back, Touya was led down the corridor, past the viewing bay and into the cargo hold. As he stepped off the last stair and into the room, all he could think was, _What the hell happened to you, Sakura?_

-0-

"Cherry," the man laughed jovially, as though he was greeting an old friend, "So good to see you again."

"Wish I could have said the same for you, bastard." She growled venomously, holding one of her throwing knives at his throat.

"Now, now, Cherry," he admonished, "this is no way to treat your clients. I thought Ichihara would have taught you better manners." He seemed unfazed by her display of anger.

"Do not insult my employer, Ryanban," Sakura warned dangerously, despite the fact that Ryanban's personal guard held Tomoyo, Kurogane and that hunter at gunpoint. Fai was lying on the floor in a crumpled heap, with blood oozing out of the bullet wound in his shoulder. His breathing seemed shallow and struggled, and that made her a little worried but she let no emotions except for hatred and anger show on her face.

"You broke the terms of our contract, so as of now, you are no longer a client." Sakura glared at the smaller man's head, her cold green eyes smoldering in rage. "Therefore, I am free to talk to you in any way I like." She sensed one of Ryanban's guards trying to sneak up on her from behind. Carelessly, without even looking, she flicked her free hand in the man's direction and the air was filled with the choking sounds of the soldier's dying breaths. "And it would be best for you if you told your men to let the other passengers of this ship go unharmed."

"What is this?" he laughed loudly, ignoring the knife at his jugular, "the cold-hearted Cherry cares for human lives?"

Sakura's only response was the slight narrowing of her eyes.

"How about we make a new deal, eh?" Ryanban proposed cautiously, his mask beginning to fall as she pressed the blade a little deeper and he felt the skin break.

"One that you will break, no doubt." She hissed spitefully.

"No, I give you my word as the ruler of Koryo I will honor this deal."

"You don't have much of a choice in this matter, Cherry," he pressed when she gave no response. "I hold the lives of those innocent bystanders in my hands. You harm one hair on my head and my men will kill them."

"I have taken more lives than all your personal guard combined." Sakura could see the expression of horrified disbelief on Tomoyo's face out of the corner of her eye. The Ryanban's personal guard was well known to be merciless killers. Each man had killed more than fifty men at least, and there were twelve guards in total. "What makes you think I care for any of their lives?" Next to the medic, Sakura saw Kurogane's jaw tighten in rage.

"The fact that you flew at me the minute my men shot that blond," he smirked as Sakura's well-crafted mask of indifference cracked. "And your demand to have them released shortly after that is proof enough. Now how about you remove this knife from my throat and we discuss this in a more relaxed set up, hmm?"

Bristling with anger, Sakura found herself complying. That bastard was right. She did care about the people on this ship. She wouldn't be able to live with herself if something were to happen to them because of her.

"The pilot needs medical attention," she said through clenched teeth as a couple of men moved towards her the minute she stepped away from the beady-eyed ruler. One of them held out his hand for her to deposit her knife but she only clenched at it harder.

"Oh, non-sense," Ryanban laughed as he walked over to a crate and leaned against it casually, somehow succeeding in making this action seem very uncool. "The bullet only grazed his skin."

"Let them go, you bastard," she hissed, silently shaking in rage but the man did not seem to even notice.

"Now then, about that information," he spoke as though picking up the conversation from where he had left off at an earlier time. "You have all your research work covered, am I correct?"

"You have three days to get me what I want," Ryanban said, narrowing his eyes to put emphasis on his next words. "If you're not back by then, you will have the blood of four innocents on your hands, as well as a whole lot of hunters coming after you. You know," he added casually, "I'm almost inclined to telling them about you right now. After all, the price on your head is the highest this galaxy has seen, next only to two others."

"I understand." she growled menacingly, "Now get the hell off of this ship. You'll have your damned files the day after tomorrow."

"Very well then," he nodded, a pleased smile spreading across his lips, making him appear even more unpleasant to look at than he already was. "The captain shall board _Kishimu_ and stay there as an honored guest till your return."

"Like hell I will." Kurogane snarled.

"Would you rather your lovely companion comes with me instead?" Ryanban leered at Tomoyo and Sakura let a low rumble form in her throat.

"See you in two days, Cherry." The beady-eyed man grinned vilely before trotting back towards his own ship, half his personal guard following with Kurogane in tow, while the remaining men stayed onboard _Little Dragon_ to keep watch over the other prisoners.

Sakura glared at his receding back before whirling around and swiftly moving towards the cockpit of a smaller ship near the rear end of the cargo hold. It was meant to transport two people at most and was supposed to be used to approach places where the freighter itself could not go.

"You lied about killing those men, right?" the hunter asked her the minute the hull of the _Little Dragon_ closed.

"No," was her short reply as she pressed her palm against the side of the ship. The glass covering the cockpit opened with a hiss and began to raise itself to allow the pilot to climb inside. "I didn't."

"How many?" that was Tomoyo.

"More than a few hundred," she replied quietly, not daring to meet the medic's lavender-eyed gaze as she jumped and caught the edge of the opening with both hands.

"And what is the price on your head?" she asked.

"High enough to let you buy three _Kishimu_-sized ships and still leave a noticeable amount in your account." Sakura replied, carelessly this time, trying to appear indifferent as she pulled her body upwards, climbing into the cockpit. "But don't try to alert the hunters about me." She warned. "Or you _will_ be responsible of the consequences."

"You work for Ichihara?" the hunter asked, his voice void of all emotions. "Is that why that fatty hasn't alerted the hunters about you till now?"

"Yes." Was all she said as she pressed another button to let the glass covering slide back in place. From the viewing screen, she saw the remaining guards lead Tomoyo and the hunter back towards the living quarters, dragging an unconscious Fai behind them as the launch panel activated in the cargo hold and cut it off from the rest of the ship. Powering up the smaller ship, Sakura set her face in a determined frown as she shot off in space, leaving the two docked ships far behind with her mind set on the task at hand.

_**A/N: Everybody is being held hostage and Sakura is being forced to retrieve some top secret info. Fai is shot and Kuro-popcorn is no longer onboard **_**Little Dragon**_**. Tomoyo just found out that Sakura is not as innocent as she had led them all to believe and Touya is still trying to puzzle out what happened to Sakura to make her the person she is today. That leaves only one person unaccounted for.**_

_**I wonder where our little wolf went. Don't you? ;)**_

_**Stay tuned for the next installment. **_

_**Here's a little sneak peak at the upcoming chapter.**_

'_You lied about killing those men, right?'_ The hunter's voice echoed inside her head.

"I don't have time for this," she mumbled in annoyance, walking purposefully towards the back of the vessel.

'_How many?' _Tomoyo sounded so disappointed in her when she had asked her that question.

'_See you in two days, Cherry'. _She stopped walking, her hands clenching into fists by her sides.

Ryanban… that slimy little bastard. She'd get back at him for black mailing her like this.

No one, _no one_ messed with Cherry.

She'd make sure to make an example out of him for the rest of her clients.

_**And that's it for this time.**_

_**Adios!**_


	22. An Unexpected Stowaway

_**A/N: Sorry for the late update guys. I tried to put up the chapters last night but the server was down. And I was feeling so tired last night, I couldn't really wait for it to work to put up the chapters. My grandmother had a heart attack earlier this week and she was hospitalized and I was busy taking care of her. Thankfully she is stable now and she got discharged today! So yeah, I'm in a mood for celebration. Which is why I will be putting up new chapters for FOUR fics! Isn't that awesome?**_

_**Okay so now that that is done, I would like to thank everyone for sticking with this fic so far. ^_^ Shattered Secrets has crossed the hundred reviews mark! So maybe I might update next week too. (That still depends on how busy this week will be but still I will try to make it so that you have something to look forward to next Saturday)**_

_**So anyone managed to guess where Syaoran might have hidden?**_

_**No? *pouts* fine, I'll be telling you that in this chapter. **_

_**Now please without further ado, go ahead and enjoy!**_

_**Don't forget to review. ;)**_

The tiny ship trembled and shook as it entered the atmosphere, the force of the friction heating up the inside of the ship enough to make sweat bead her brow. Wiping it off with an annoyed grunt, Sakura carefully maneuvered the ship to a secluded spot- a small, grove-like formation made from the twisted, gnarly pillars of stones that had somehow developed despite the acidic rain that wreaked havoc on this small planet. It was located several miles away from the research facility she had to break into. The distance was enough to keep her safe from being observed by the naked eye as the vessel descended from the sky, but not too far to be difficult to approach via hoverboards or gliders.

Smiling at the orange sky lit by the evening sun, she muttered a spell to change her clothes to a more comfortable outfit than her sleeping sweatpants and t-shirt. It was a handy spell, but luckily it wasn't very widely known, since she herself had learnt about it only after she had began working for Yuuko. She doubted any of the hunters knew about it, which was probably why she had been able to elude capture for so long.

Unfastening her belt she stood up, stretching her legs as she reached out with her right hand and pressed a button that released the glass covering of the cockpit. A blast of warm, humid air hit her face as she climbed out and landed neatly on her feet.

Looking around, she took in her surroundings, observing the terrain to familiarize herself with it, noting subconsciously how the rock formations seemed to catch fire in the light of the setting star in the southern skies. Turning her head eastwards, she squinted her eyes in the direction of the research facility, visible as a small, silver dot across the vast plains of sand that separated her from the building. In the distance she saw a mutated sand-worm break the surface of the sand plain, slithering across the desert chasing after what was probably a pack of mutated dogs.

Letting her gaze travel further towards the quickly darkening northern skies, she let a small grin form on her lips. The desert gave way to rocky, mountainous region in that direction, full of rock formations and canyons. It was the perfect cover for her to approach the facility, despite having no doubt a whole lot more mutated species of local fauna making it quite dangerous, but she'd rather face a pack of mutant wolves than go up against a sand-worm. Those things were just plain nasty.

Shaking herself out of those thoughts, she looked back at the small ship she had arrived on the planet on.

'_You lied about killing those men, right?'_ The hunter's voice echoed inside her head.

"I don't have time for this," she mumbled in annoyance, walking purposefully towards the back of the vessel.

'_How many?' _Tomoyo sounded so disappointed in her when she had asked her that question.

'_See you in two days, Cherry'. _She stopped walking, her hands clenching into fists by her sides.

Ryanban… that slimy little bastard. She'd get back at him for black mailing her like this.

No one, _no one_ messed with Cherry.

She'd make sure to make an example out of him for the rest of her clients.

Smiling slightly at the thought, she resumed her walking, thinking about how she should look over the floor plans and other important information about the research facility in the cargo hold before going off to the building itself.

She stopped near the rear and pulled on a small lever to open the hull. As she lowered the mechanism, her mind vaguely wondered about what might be happening back on the _Little Dragon_. Was Ryanban keeping his word? What if he hurt the others while she was down here?

The panel issued a soft hiss as the hull smoothly began to slide from its place.

No, she mentally reprimanded herself, she mustn't think this way. She had to focus on the task at hand. She could worry about the others later.

If she were to fail due to some careless mistake on her part, she would be responsible for the deaths of five innocent… Wait a second!

Ryanban didn't know about Syaoran being onboard the ship, did he? What if one of his men found him wherever he was hiding? They'd kill him without a thought.

Shit! This was bad.

She should contact Fai and let him know about Syaoran. But… Fai had passed out from blood loss.

And there were no other magical beings onboard that could help.

Should she go back, perhaps?

No.

That would put the others in danger. Ryanban was well known for his temper.

Maybe she could... her thoughts came to a sudden halt as the hull opened completely and the lights flickered on automatically, lighting up the small cabin. However, it was not the metallic room itself that had her breath catching in her throat.

No.

It was the curled-up form of a certain amber-eyed teen, huddled up in one of the corners that had her whole body frozen in shock.

"S-Syaoran?" she hastily clambered inside, moving towards him, "What the hell are you doing _here_?"

Hearing the harsh tone directed at him, Syaoran curled in on himself whimpering softly.

"Wait a minute," she said, more to herself than to the teen, but the amber-eyed male looked at her with guarded eyes. "When I told you to go hide… You hid in here!" she exclaimed, smacking herself on the forehead, her action making Syaoran jump in fright. But Sakura did not notice this as she began pacing, all the while muttering loudly.

"Great, so if he's down here, it's only the four of them up there. Ryanban won't be able to hurt him, but I bet Tomoyo must be freaking out about him right now. And Kurogane too, probably. Oh my God! What are they going to do when they find out he came here with me? This is no place for him to be… but then again, I doubt the ship is either. But… Okay." she paused to take a deep breath, closing her eyes as she tried to stop herself from hyperventilating.

"Relax, Sakura. It's not like you meant to bring him with you on a potentially fatal job. I'm sure the others will understand. They'll understand that… oh, who am I kidding?" she groaned, slumping on the ground dejectedly, "They're gonna kill me if something were to happen to him. Kurogane will probably slice me in two and then chop me up into microscopic pieces. Then Tomoyo will make a stew out of it, and Fai will probably feed it to those mutated sand worms. Oh… I am so screwed. If it were only me I would have stolen a ship from the lab and escaped on that since I was going to use the engine of this one to make myself a glider, but now that Syaoran is here, what the hell am I going to do? I can't take him with me. But there won't be enough time for me to come back here to fix the ship and escape. And I might get caught if I dally around on this planet in one of their ships. I am so, so, so, sooo screwed. I'm so-" she broke off her rant, blinking a couple of times as she noticed that her amber-eyed companion had left his earlier spot on the floor. "Syaoran, what are you doing?"

The teen was messing around with the twin jet-propulsion systems of the vessel. How he managed to get them open without the proper tools escaped her, but she could only sit there and watch him with her mouth agape as he dismantled them both from the main engine and turned around to smile at her proudly.

"Gliders." He beamed at her as he walked over to a small toolbox tucked into one of the metallic walls that she noticed only just now. "I'll go too." Reaching inside, he withdrew a screw driver and a small laser torch. He lit the torch up and began slicing up the lightweight yet sturdy metal plates used to build the floor of the ship.

"What do you mean 'you'll come too'?" she almost shrieked in hysteria, but somehow, Syaoran seemed unaffected by her plight.

"I'll come." Was all he said as he walked back to the engine and fiddled with the mechanism inside.

-0-

It was a couple of hours later and Sakura had calmed down completely. The sun had set long ago and it was now dark outside, with the acidic rain pelting the ground outside. The ship's metallic surface was kept safe only thanks to the shields that Sakura had the sense to activate as soon as the first drop of water fizzled against the vessel.

Now it was raining full force, the rocks hissing and spitting as they reacted with the liquid while thunder roared over head, the sky lighting up with occasional flashes of lightening.

Syaoran had been working non-stop on the gliders, and for some reason Sakura had let him be, thinking over and reworking parts of her plan to incorporate Syaoran's presence into it. She figured she'd try contacting Fai telepathically once again a short while later, he'd have probably woken up by now.

Telepathy was something all accomplished mages and sorcerers could perform. But sadly, it only worked for magical beings. No ordinary human could ever hope to receive a message in that form since their brains could not pick up those signals.

Fai, being a mage, had been able to receive her message about Ryanban's arrival earlier that day, which was the only reason why he had rushed towards the cargo hold.

Rolling up the blueprints of the building, Sakura stood up, stretching her legs a little as she walked over to Syaoran, who was so immersed in his work, he didn't even notice her until she was crouching right next to him.

"Syaoran, if you're going to come along, you'll have to do _exactly_ as I say, alright?"

"Okay," he nodded once, not looking up from where he was welding the modified propulsion system to the glider base- in this case, part of the metal plates used in the flooring.

"I'm going to try and contact Fai." She sighed, straightening up as she headed back to the side of the ship which she had been occupying for the last two hours.

Closing her eyes, she exhaled, clearing her mind of all thoughts. The magic would require a whole lot more concentration now that the distance had increased manifold. She opened up her mind and let her mind's eye see the world around her, sensing auras of magical and non magical beings, animals and plants. She noticed Syaoran's forest-green aura enshrouded in that thick suffocating veil, a true anomaly if there ever was one. She had never before seen anything like it. But, realizing that she was losing focus, she redirected her mind away from her current location, reaching out in space in the direction she knew _Little Dragon_ was in.

Her heart sank as she realized that Fai's aura, though still present, was a bit too faint for him to be conscious.

_Fai, can you hear me?_ She called out anyways. His aura flickered but did not brighten. He was still knocked out.

_Fai, wake up._

_Who's there?_ Hearing the voice of someone unexpected, Sakura jumped, almost breaking off the mental connection.

_**A/N: Review if you think cliffies are annoying. ;)**_

_**Review if you have any questions, comments, suggestions or guesses. **_


	23. Visions

_**A/N: Hey everyone! Guess what?**_

_**I turned twenty one today! :D**_

_**So as a treat to all my faithful readers, I'm gonna update today instead of on Saturday. **_

_**Enjoy! Don't forget to review!**_

Touya sighed softly, watching the lavender-eyed medic fuss over the unconscious pilot. From what he could tell, the bullet had embedded itself rather deeply in his right shoulder and the medic lacked proper equipment to treat the wound accordingly. So, she had resorted to using makeshift surgical tools. Though the wound would leave scars, Touya was amazed by the skill she displayed in treating the unconscious man. A few hours had passed by now, but she was still cursing their captors. She had remained oddly quiet about what that guy Ryanban had revealed about Sakura and what she herself had revealed.

His baby sister claimed to be a murderer. Of not one, not two, but of several hundred hunters.

He did not believe it. She _had_ to be bluffing. There was no way. _No_ way at all that she could have killed all those men. Despite him having witnessed the careless manner in which she had killed that guard, Touya refused to believe that his little Kaijuu was a murderer.

_Fai, can you hear me?_ A faint, feminine voice echoed distantly in his mind, startling him out of his thoughts.

_Fai,_ the girl sounded familiar, _wake up._

_Who's there?_ Latching onto the existing connection, he found it easier to locate the owner of that voice. It was someone on that planet, the one that was famous throughout the galaxy for its mutated animals, acidic rain and unnatural rock formations.

_Hunter?_ He heard the girl ask.

_It's Touya,_ he grumbled in irritation.

_Right,_ he heard Sakura say, _is Fai still unconscious?_

_Yeah. _He glanced back at the blond. _He's out like a rock. The bullet was a type of stunner so I'm not sure when he'll be waking up._

_Oh._ Sakura asked._ Could you do me a favor?_

_What?_

_Tell Tomoyo that Syaoran is with me._

_What? _He mentally exclaimed. _What is the Gaki doing over there with you?_ That brat was so dead, the minute he arrived back onboard. How dare he sneak away with his sister?

_He is not a brat! _Sakura defended the boy in an indignant tone. _And, um… _her tone softened, growing a little hesitant, _he was hiding in the ship from Ryanban's men, and I didn't realize he was onboard till I got here._

… He chose not to respond to that, thinking up ways he could torture the brat for sneaking off with _his_ sister!

_So you have magic too, huh?_ Sakura continued casually._ Why didn't I notice your aura before you contacted me?_

_Of course I have magic, you fat Kaijuu._ Touya responded automatically, wondering why she was asking him such obvious questions. Even if she refused to acknowledge having known him, she should still know this much._ And why are you asking me why you didn't notice my aura before? You should know the reason why._ It was only once he had said this that he remembered the brat's words about her having lost her memories.

_Did you just… call me a Kaijuu? _She asked in a stunned voice.

Before he could respond to that however, a newer voice joined their conversation, _Sakura?_ So, the pilot had awakened. What great timings.

_Fai! You're awake._

-0-

The sky cleared up as soon as the sun rose, and the wet ground began to dry up as the acidic water evaporated in the heat. One complete hour after sunrise, the sandy plains and rocky formations were all enshrouded in an acidic, smoggy mist which cleared as the sun rose higher in the sky.

Beaming widely, eyes shining in excitement, Syaoran followed Sakura outside the ship as the protective shields lowered and they were assaulted by the humid, hot air. It stung their skin slightly, but it was nothing either of them could not endure.

"Ready?" she grinned at her companion, throwing the glider to the ground. The board activated with a small beep and floated up from the floor. He gave her an enthusiastic nod, letting his own board fall on the floor as it activated and hovered above the ground.

"Alright then," she leapt on her glider, waiting for Syaoran to mimic her action.

"Let's go!" the amber-eyed teen jumped on his board with an elated laugh and shot off towards the rock formations.

"Oye! Wait up!" Sakura cried indignantly as she zoomed after him. The warm air rushed through her hair as she caught up with the brunette, who grinned at her before bending his knees to go faster.

"So that's how it is, huh?" she mumbled, all the while barely containing her grin. She hurried to catch up, overshooting him and whipping around a gnarled pillar of stone. She laughed, not having felt freedom like this for a long time. Twisting her glider so that she was flying backwards, she faced him. Without even having to look over her shoulder to check where she was going, she maneuvered around various rocky formation with ease, emerald orbs silently challenging her companion.

Rising up to the test, the amber-eyed male sped up towards a stone archway formation, flipping over it while his glider sailed smoothly underneath it. Landing neatly on his feet, he gave her a small bow, the mischievous smile playing across his lips conveying everything. Still facing backwards, Sakura glided effortlessly as she kept a little ways ahead of her companion, using a small portion of her magic to navigate the way.

Ah, magic.

Where would she be without it?

All of a sudden, Syaoran shot past her, zooming into a narrow canyon, looking over his shoulder as she twisted her board back once more to face forwards again. His laughing eyes seemed to be daring her to follow and try and beat him.

Furrowing her brows in determination, Sakura followed darting in behind him, aiming for a low arch. Speeding up, she shot through the opening, giving a delighted whoop. A little ways ahead of her, Syaoran mimicked her actions, his exhilarated laughter filling up the air.

Again and again, the two zoomed under, around and over various obstacles in the canyon that widened as they went deeper.

As she soared on her glider alongside the chocolate haired boy, Sakura felt a freedom like she had never felt before. All her worries seemed to have been left far behind leaving her completely carefree. For the time that she flew through that desert, conquering the rugged landscape, she happily forgot all the thoughts that constantly plagued her mind.

Syaoran must have felt something similar for he too transformed into an entirely different person.

"_Happy birthday Kaijuu." _ The hunter's younger voice echoed in her mind though no images accompanied it this time.

"_Uwai!" _she heard her younger self exclaim.

"_Happy Sakura-chan." _It was the other hunter.

"_You got me a glider!"_

"_Do you like it?"_

"_I love it! Thank you Touya Nii-san! Thank you Yukito-kun!" _Nii-san. There it was again. What exactly did that word mean? I should try looking up its meaning. She thought idly as she carelessly avoided a jutting rock formation that appeared like a disgusting, charred claw of some giant, grotesque monster.

"_You're welcome, Sakura-chan."_

"_I know you were sneaking out on mine."_ The first hunter, Touya told her.

"_Um… Ahehehe… Oh wow! Look at the cake! Isn't it just delicious? Wouldn't you say so Yukito-kun?"_

"_Kaijuu…." _The hunter growled.

"_Now now Touya. Don't scold her on her birthday." _The second hunter, Yukito chided gently.

"…_Fine. But you better prepare yourself for a long lecture in the morning. I'm _not_ going to let you off so easily."_

"_Hai. Hai Nii-san. Can we eat the cake please? I want to go ride it." _A feeling of elation lifted her spirits even more than before, when her struggling mind began to grasp at the meaning of the Nii-san. It was a strange sensation, one she doubted having felt before but it was like she was lifting up magical veil blocking out everything having to do with her past. This word was connected to it and she intended to uncover the truth one way or another.

"_Oye Kaijuu, get back inside! It's pouring buckets. You'll catch a cold."_

"_Aww… but I like the rain."_

"_Get in here. This instant!"_

"_Alright. Alright. You're such a meanie."_

"_Better be a meanie than be a meanie stuck taking care a fat, sick Kaijuu."_

"_Mou… I'm not fat!"_

"_So says the fat Kaijuu."_

"I'm not a monster," she grumbled in response to the laughing voice before stiffening. Kaijuu meant monster. She was sure of it. But how did she know that?

And why had that hunter called her that?

Only one person called her that. And that was… whatever it was that her mind had been about to uncover about her past was suddenly forced out of her mind when a laser shot hit her glider and sent her careening into an uncontrolled spin.

-0-

Sakura hazarded a glance in Syaoran's direction as he crouched alongside her, behind some conveniently jutting rocks near the research facility. His face held no expressions of fear rather the look he bore was of a calm and cool confidence, like he knew what he was doing. Her gaze flickered to his right arm and she found her thoughts drifting back to the fight that had taken place not even half an hour ago back in the forest of rock formations and canyons.

The seal on his arm, instead of its usual single pair of mirroring C's was currently in the form of two pairs. She could feel that suffocating, tainted, forest green aura leak out of him but only just barely. The sword that he had used to finish off those guards was back in his arm. He was consciously using the power of that seal, purposefully letting some part of that other cold, emotionless personality of his to show through. Did he somehow understand that his own, gentle, vulnerable personality would be nothing but a liability to her out here? Was that why he had let that ruthless side of his kill all those guards?

Speaking of killing the guards, why the heck had _she_ not been able to kill any? All she had been able to do was hurt them enough to put them out of commission, but Syaoran… his movements had been purposeful and precise. One slash and his opponent was felled like a gigantic Toamri tree cut down by a laser-axe, never to get back up again. In less than ten minutes, he had dealt with almost twenty men. And he had not even broken a sweat.

When her glider had been shot down, she had struggled to control her landing, however it had been useless. The abandoned surfer had crashed into the canyon wall and burst into flames just as she had landed in a graceful catlike crouch. She had hoped that he had gone on ahead and at first it _had_ been the case, with just her fighting them. She had been unnerved when her knives had struck their target but her opponents had not dropped dead like they normally would have and it had taken her precious seconds to reach the conclusion that somehow she had missed their vitals.

While it elated her that she did not have another person's blood on her hands, it annoyed her even more. Why was it happening just now all of a sudden? It couldn't have been the fact that she had somehow failed to kill that hunter, Touya, since she had taken out members of Ryanban's personal guard just the other day.

A small voice in her head still placed the blame on that annoying hunter- who somehow felt like he had the right to boss her around- as she had flipped to the side to avoid getting vaporized by a blaster shot. Those guards definitely took their jobs seriously. But then again, didn't they all? Her smirk had fallen when miraculously and very unfortunately she had somehow allowed one of them to sneak up on her from behind and pin her to the ground. Just as he had been about to slap those magical cuffs on her wrists, the weight had been lifted from her back as a choking noise had filled the air.

It was then that she had felt the suffocating aura behind her. The fight had not lasted long after that.

Shaking her head, Sakura forced herself to focus on the patrolling guards strutting near the outer perimeter walls of the facility.

"Getting past the guards is going to be a little tricky," she whispered as quietly as she could, observing the men through narrowed eyes as she tried to pick out some of weakness that could be used to her advantage. One of the men turned around a corner and vanished from her line of sight.

Using magic to take them out was not an option, since she knew that the perimeter was armed with some very strong sensors. Even the simplest of spells could trigger the alarm. Fei had to be doing some serious experimentation in that facility to warrant this type of security. Lucy for Sakura though, she wasn't the best of Yuuko's employees for nothing. Getting in without getting noticed might be tricky like she had admitted, but doable and a piece of cake for her all the same. That is until she remembered that she had a partner for this particular venture of hers.

"I'm going to deal with the guards while you will stay here and wait," she quickly cast a glance to her right to make sure Syaoran was still there before looking back, "for a signal…" she trailed off, doing a double take, only to have her heart clench in fear when she found him missing from his spot.

"Shit!" she cursed under her breath, frantically looking around while trying not to alert the guards to her presence or her chocolate-haired companion's for that matter. "Syaoran?" she hissed, looking around but failing to find the teen. The sound of a pair of bodies hitting the ground with a dull thud made her look back towards the guards, only to see Syaoran dragging their unconscious bodies across the ground towards a series of small interconnected caves.

Feeling the blood drain from her face, she whipped her head in the direction of the surveillance cameras only to find them completely destroyed by some sort of sharp weapon as was indicated by the slash-like marks present on them. Blinking a couple of times, she looked back at Syaoran to notice the teen's unsheathed sword in his right hand.

Sakura frowned as she watched him dump the guards inside the cave before returning to her side with a sheepish grin on his face. He had used magic but the alarms had not gone off…

The amber eyed boy kept staring at her with the small smile on his face, almost patiently waiting for her to move forward. Heaving a sigh she kept herself from rolling her eyes at him before motioning for him to follow her, which he did, his footsteps silent, easily matching her pace.

Sakura cautiously made her way past the broken security cameras wondering if the guards had become more alert due to the fact that a small fraction of their surveillance system was down.

Surprisingly enough, getting inside the lab undetected was not as hard as one would think. Since the facility was located on a remote, barren planet, with nothing but acid rain and mutated species of local fauna, no one ever went there.

She came to a stop and cautiously surveyed the guards sitting by the security consol of the watchtower. None of them appeared to be particularly more alert, despite the damage done to the cameras behind them. They seemed far too engrossed in some sort of sports broadcast playing on one of the holo TVs.

'Some guards,' Sakura thought. This time, she made sure Syaoran didn't go taking care of them by himself before running inside. With swift precise moves, she took down three of them and turned around to deal with the fifth and sixth, wondering why in the world they had failed to sound the alarm when she noticed a grinning Syaoran standing over the unmoving guards.

"Oh, for the love of..." she groaned, this time, unable to stop her eyes from rolling as she walked towards her companion. Sakura didn't feel it right to scold the boy when he looked so happy at having been able to help her out. So, she placed a hand on his shoulder and looked into his eyes with a somber expression on her face instead.

"Wait here for me." she spoke in a serious tone, her emerald eyes boring into his gold flecked amber ones, "I'll be right back, okay?"

Syaoran bit his lip, the grin fading from his face as he looked back at the doorway, obviously wanting to go with her.

"Listen to me Syaoran." she spoke urgently, making him turn his gaze back in her direction, "I want you to stay here, alright?"

The reluctance was clear on his face, but he gave her a slow nod nonetheless.

Sakura hoped she could trust him to stick to that agreement as she turned and hurried onwards.

Making her way through the maze of hallways and shiny silver doors wasn't that much of a problem seeing as the use of magic detection spells had been abandoned inside the complex.

After all, they _were_ researching on magic so the constant use of such spells would have set off the alarms all the time. But abandoning the use of such a thing proved to be a plus point for her. She was able to unlock all doors with a simple verbal spell that she had about in an ancient book in her employer's personal library.

The book was probably the last of its kind and told the tale of a young wizard going, facing off against a very powerful nemesis who had tried to murder him when he was nothing more than a baby. She had been doubtful about trying that spell the first time but somehow, her friends had managed to convince her to go long and use it. None of them possessed magic. So, she had decided to humor them, just for the heck of it.

Imagine her surprise, however, when it did indeed work, just like the book, or rather 'tomb' claimed.

That had been around two and a half cycles ago, and she could not have been more grateful to her friends as she pulled out a plain, nondescript sphere from her clothes, at the same time flicking her wrist to grab hold of a throwing knife in her free hand. Muttering the simple word from the ancient, lost tongue, she unlocked the door before her, letting her knife pierce the air as soon as the panels slid apart. Hearing the guard fall to the floor with a muffled thump, Sakura made her way inside, mindful of the security cameras watching that particular room.

Using a simple, low-scale, lightening spell she shorted them as she walked over to the mainframe, her jade eyes taking in the magnificent system in all its glory. Letting a small smile grace her lips, she slid the sphere into a slot in the computer's side.

Time to get down to business.

_**A/N: I just love Fai's perfect timing. *snickers* Is it just a coincidence that he always manages to prevent Sakura from discovering the truth somehow?**_

_**Anyhow, the mysterious voice turned out to be Touya's. Wonder why Sakura had been unable to tell he had magic before now.**_

_**By the way, isn't Syaoran just completely glompable? ;) ;) (Lol. I just made up a new word.)**_

_**How many of you can name the spell Sakura used to unlock the doors? And what title might that book have carried?**_


	24. The Great Escape?

_**A/N:The book as many of you have correctly guessed was 'Harry Potter' and the spell happened to be 'Alohomora'.**_

_***sigh* I really hate exams week. But weekend is finally here and what more? It's update time! :D**_

_**So without further ado, go ahead and enjoy!**_

_**~Don't forget to review. ;)**_

"Shit!" Sakura cursed under her breath as she heard the blaring alarm go off. How the hell could she have forgotten about the stupid trap? Traps had been one of the very first things Chi had warned her to never let herself become a victim of when she had received her lessons from the blond.

But now?

How could she have been so stupid?

She had let herself become lost in thought just as the data had finished its transfer. Hadn't Chi warned her that traps activated as soon as illegal data transfer completed? One of the reasons why she was the most sought after was because not even once had she let herself become a victim of such a corner? She had been the first one who had managed to make a bypass to such protective measures with help of magic.

"There goes my perfect record," she mumbled with a sigh, grabbing the data sphere from the slot and turning around on her heels, "Nothing I can do about it now, I guess," she shrugged, sprinting out into the hallway just a split second before the metal door locked down.

Up ahead, guards were beginning to swarm the hallways and Sakura had to duck into a narrow passage to her right to avoid detection. She skidded to a halt, as the passage veered sharply to the left and ended in a dead end.

"Damn it," she cursed, frantically looking around as she heard the voices of the guards grow nearer. There was supposed to be a door that led to another side corridor over here. Where was it?

Deciding to backtrack, she whirled around, moving swiftly as she raced back into the corridor she had come from, noticing that she had somehow missed spotting the door that she needed. Mentally smacking herself on the head, she hurriedly muttered the spell just as the first guard turned around the corner. Ignoring his yell for her to freeze, she slipped inside.

She could hear the guard pounding uselessly on the other side of the door that she had magically relocked. Once satisfied that they would not be able to follow her, she resumed her journey towards the centre of the building. She was going to find her way to the Main Docking Station from the Central Hall- the former being one place where she would be able to steal her ride off this planet. Unfortunately for her, though, the passage she was in was not the only path leading towards that area.

And more guards would have no doubt gathered in the hall she was heading towards. She would most definitely have to fight her way out of this one.

Her destination was a rather large, high ceilinged hall. However, initially the only sound in the large chamber was of her own racing footsteps that echoed against the concrete floor. But as she reached the middle of the room, she heard several other doors beeping and sliding open as the room began to buzz with magic and energy. It was strange to describe it, but the feeling that the walls and the roof and even the floor gave off was nothing less than an amalgamation of magic and not-magic.

The effect was instantaneous as Sakura felt her magic beginning to fade, her aura diminishing and weakening as the buzzing grew louder. She knew what was happening, but knowing about it was not going to help her out in this case.

The researchers had succeeded in coming up with a technology that could repress magic without the use of cerellium, and for Sakura, it was no cause for celebration as a pale, red-colored smog began to fill the room. At the same time, dozens of guards began pouring in from all sides. Flicking her wrists to bring out her throwing knives, Sakura whirled around, letting them sail through the air.

The satisfying sounds of her knives piercing flesh let her opponents know that she was no amateur. Sneaking up behind her to try and catch her unawares was not going to work. The fight that followed was not one of the toughest battles of her life. But in the end, the simple fact that the haze was not only acting as a suppressor for her aura but also as a drain to suck out her magic and the sheer number of her opponents had Sakura panting for breath, her limbs growing tired and heavier with each move, her muscles beginning to scream in protest and her moves becoming more and more clumsy.

Ducking under a punch aimed for her head, Sakura threw her leg back, the heel of her foot connecting with the man's chin, sending him sprawling on the floor. The haze was starting to converge on her, leeching out her strength, and that annoyed Sakura greatly, but behind the annoyance was worry. If this continued for much longer, how the hell was she going to make it out of this?

A loud boom resonated off the walls of the hall and Sakura felt energy beginning to flood back into her body as the haze dissipated. A door slid open somewhere near the back of the hall and Sakura sensed a familiar aura approach her.

Even as she fought with the men attacking her, Sakura was able to catch sounds of fighting in the background. From the distinct feel of that person's aura she could easily tell who it was, but she was unsure of whether to feel pleased or exasperated by their appearance.

In the end, she settled for an irritated huff but for some reason she could not keep the grin from breaking out on her lips.

"I thought I told you to stay at the watchtower," she spoke in a stern tone as she flipped over a guard before spinning around to kick another in the face, sending him crashing into his partner. At the same time, she made her way closer to her amber-eyed savior.

Thrusting his sword to pierce his opponent's heart, Syaoran glanced at her. The look caused chills to go down Sakura's spine as she recognized the emotionless gaze. As he extracted his sword with a sick, wet squelch, a slow, predatory smile spread on his face making her shudder involuntarily.

Turning his attention back to the men surrounding them, Syaoran bolted forward, magic crackling at his fingertips. He kicked one of the guards in the stomach and sent a bolt of lightning from his hands, striking at least three guards.

The forest green aura seemed to flare out, warning the ones with even the slightest sense of mind to run for their lives. A small part of it branched out from the rest of it, moving towards Sakura, cocooning her body like it had in the Clow Bazaar. All this happened before the four guards even hit the ground.

Ignoring the strange feeling that welled up in the pit of her stomach, Sakura whirled around just in time to dodge a blow from one of the guards, striking him at the base of his neck before moving closer to Syaoran.

"Follow me." She yelled the instruction, darting towards the door that she had initially been heading to.

Letting the grin fade from his face, Syaoran dropped his latest victim, as he moved to follow the auburn haired teen.

-0-

With this bad-boy version of Syaoran helping her, stealing a ship and getting off the planet had been a piece of cake for the two and for a small moment she wondered why she had forbidden him from accompanying her earlier on.

A second later, she almost hit herself on the head for even thinking such a thing when she remembered why. This wasn't what Syaoran was really like. He wasn't so cold and ruthless when dealing with his opponents. Heck, she doubted that the sweet, innocent-souled Syaoran that she had been travelling with so far would have been able to do any of the things this slightly eviler version of him had done.

She knew _Syaoran_ would never have been able to kill those guards in the way she had witnessed back in the main hall of the research facility. She wasn't really sure what had made the seal activate this time, but a small voice inside her was screaming that he had done it intentionally.

She refused to listen to that voice though. She knew from firsthand experience how much it hurt when the seal went off. And she had seen him clutching his arm during the pirate attack and then in the Clow Bazaar. There was no way Syaoran would force himself to go through all that pain just to release this side of him. And what reason did he have to intentionally use the seal anyway?

It had to be fear of something that had released it. It had to be.

But the small voice in her head refused to quiet down.

Her battle with the stupid, stubborn voice in her head was interrupted by a simple question directed at her from the person seated behind her.

"Who are you?" This was the second time she had heard Syaoran voice that question. The first had been back in Clow, when he had saved her from being carted off by those hunters. He did not mean it in the literal sense. That much she knew. Why? She had no idea.

That seemed to be her answer to most of the questions when it came to Syaoran.

"Sakura," he spoke somewhat impatiently, confirming her thoughts, "who are you?"

"Me...?" her voice came out sounding small, utterly lost, and confused. She had asked the same question so many times, but never once had she been able to get an answer.

Staring at the star-filled sky before her, through the glass screen of the small, stolen 'Raptor', Sakura found herself becoming lost in thought. Who was she? She knew what her name was but wasn't that all she really knew about herself? Heck, she didn't even know her last name.

"I'm... I'm not so sure." She finally admitted with a loud sigh. "But I'm hoping I'll be able to change that pretty soon." She added with a small smile.

Syaoran did not speak after that, and Sakura let it be. She wasn't really in a mood to talk, besides, the emotionless tone that this Syaoran took up whenever he spoke creeped her out to hell.

Three hours had already passed and it would probably take them at least another couple more hours before they reached _Kishimu_ or _Little Dragon_ for that matter. The planet that was battered by acidic rain was not very close to the location where the latter had been hijacked by the former.

They were travelling through space at almost hyperspeed and it was quite a while later that the radar of the stolen Raptor lit up and showed two blinking dots in the distance. They were almost there. Looking over her shoulder to check on Syaoran, Sakura felt an involuntary smile creep on her face.

He had a peaceful expression on his face, his amber eyes closed in sleep, his lips parted slightly and his head lolling over his shoulders, leaning slightly towards the right. It would have been resting against the glass cover of the cockpit had it not been for the safety belts holding him in place. This was the second time she had seen Syaoran sleeping and she had to admit he looked truly and utterly at peace.

Glancing back at the radar, she bit her lip. She really did not want to wake him up when he was so soundly asleep, but she knew it was necessary. She _was_ responsible for his safety now that the seal had once again gone dormant. She knew this due to that fact the choking aura that was always caressing her magical core whenever it was present had long since disappeared. The seal had probably deactivated when he fell asleep, but she had been far busy working on the next step in her plan to give it any major thought at that time.

Sighing, she closed her eyes, thinking that maybe a couple more minutes would bring him no harm. Reaching out with her mind, she focused in the direction of the two ships, searching for the two familiar auras. One a deep, stormy blue, and the other a clear, cerulean blue. The former was several times stronger than the latter. With an aura that now flared like a beacon atop a high mountain, Sakura could not believe she had missed it until her accidental telepathic connection with the hunter.

_Sakura?_ She heard Fai's questioning voice inside her head. Pushing away her irritation at not being able to pick up on the hunter's aura before, Sakura answered in a calm tone.

_You guys ready? I hope you didn't have trouble locating them._

_Yeah. We found the weapons quite easily when we knew where to look._

_Kai- um… I mean, Sakura, what the heck are you doing with a Netcom linkpad?_ She heard the hunter ask all of a sudden.

_I stole it from one of your hunter buddies. _She replied simply.

_They have trackers on these things! _He almost yelled at her. _Do you have any idea what would have happened to you if they traced you with it?_

_I know how to take care of myself, Hunter. _Okay, this guy was really starting to tick her off. Who the heck gave him the right to scold her like he was responsible for her safety or something?

_Disabling the tracer spell was one of the first things I did, so you don't have get yourself worked up over nothing._

_Why can't you just call me by my name … _he sighed the next words so softly she doubted she would have been able to understand him even if she had been right inside his head. _Anyway, when do we move?_

_I'll be docking Kishimu in five minutes._ She replied, before cutting off the connection, confident that the ones onboard knew what to do after that.

"Syaoran," she called softly, looking back at the sleeping teen once again. "Syaoran, wake up."

Amber eyes blinked a couple of times as their owner looked around him in confusion for a couple of seconds before fixing his gaze on the auburn-haired girl.

"I'm going to cast a simple non-noticing spell on you," she told him, letting her aura gather inside her body. "It will stop anyone from looking at you unless you do something to attract their attention, so please, just stay inside the Raptor till I tell you to come out, understand?"

Receiving his nod of confirmation, Sakura let out a breath of relief before mumbling a few words to let the magic take effect.

Looking back at the looming ship, Sakura narrowed her eyes in determination.

"Here we go."

_**A/N: And here we go! An action filled chapter will be heading your way in two weeks time. I hope you guys liked this chapter. Anyways it's getting quite late or should I say rather really early over here so I'll be heading to bed now. But you guys better leave nice long reviews telling me how much you loved reading this since I just finished with my second sessionals! Seriously people I need something to brighten my day a little.**_

_**-Nims**_


	25. Before the Storm

_**A/N: Sorry for the wait you guys. I had so much stuff piled over the weekend I totally forgot about the update. But anyhow, I'm here now so be happy. :P**_

_**Enjoy!**_

"_Here you go Sakura-chan," Yukito smiled as he set down a plate of buttered toast on the table, along with a jug full of Orangaton juice just as Touya entered the room, pulling on his shirt._

"_Arigato, Yukito-san," the green-eyed girl beamed brightly as she loaded her plate with toast and filled a glass with the rust colored juice. In less than a minute, she had wiped her plate clean, washing the toast down with the chilled juice before beaming at the grey-eyed teen._

"_Whoa there, Kaijuu!" Touya yelled, acting surprised as he took a few steps back and bumped into the door behind him, "Keep eating at that rate and Clow will be facing a famine."_

"_Nii-saaannn…" Sakura whined, her face sporting an indignant scowl. "I don't eat that much! And I'm NOT a Kaijuu!"_

"_All right, all right." Touya laughed, holding his hands up in a placating gesture as he sat down in the chair opposite to her, after bidding Yukito a good morning. Sakura glared at him suspiciously and stomped hard on his foot to make sure he didn't call her names. _

"_Ow! That hurt!" he retorted, flinching visibly as her glare intensified, daring him to say any further._

_When the blue-eyed teen did not call her a monster however her scowl transformed into a bright smile that was directed at Yukito, rather than him. Turning on her heels, she grabbed her hoverboard from the spot where it leaned against the sofa and raced towards the exit to the house._

"_You're a fat, little, kawaii Kaijuu!" He called after her once Sakura was about to close the door._

_Her angry yells of 'I'm not a Kaijuu' could be heard from outside._

_Touya hummed happily, innocently smiling up at his best friend as he occupied the seat Sakura had just vacated. _

"_Touya, you really shouldn't tease your sister like that." Yukito reprimanded lightly, trying to show his disapproval by frowning, but failing completely to share an amused smile._

"_Maybe not," Touya looked up at him seriously before grinning playfully, "but she's always going to be my fat, little, kawaii Kaijuu."_

_Sighing in defeat, Yukito shook his head before joining in his laughter._

Heaving a quiet sigh, Touya opened his eyes and sat up. His neck hurt from having stayed in an awkward position for so long. The room that he, the lavender-eyed medic, and the blond pilot were being kept in had only one bunk bed. Although the pilot had been shot and had been out for over seven hours, when night finally came, the then-conscious blond had relinquished the bed to Tomoyo.

The medic had protested for a while but in the end, her tiredness had overcome her sense of righteousness and she had crawled under the covers, grumbling about annoying blonds and their irresistible puppy-eyed looks. Said blond had taken simply sat on the floor, legs crossed Indian style as he leaned against the wall. Touya had followed his example and in this manner, the three of them had managed to grab a few hours of sleep. Pushing the earlier dream out of his head, Touya climbed to his feet, flinching when his back cracked loudly. Shooting a look over his shoulder to check on the sleeping pilot and medic, he moved towards the other side of the room.

From the looks of things, he figured this to be one of the cabins that were given to passengers on the ship, since there were no personal effects added here. Though he did spot a rather expensive-looking laptop resting on the table right next to a… Netcom Linkpad?

H-how in the world did these people get their hands on one of those? Was it Sakura's doing? After all, she was probably the one staying here. But…

Damn it! What if the hunters tracked her down using the tracer that came with each set? She would be in so much shi- trouble. It was illegal for anyone other than a hunter to posses that device since it was linked directly to the main database of Fei Wong's hunter network. What was more, not even all hunters were authorized to have one. Only the high-ranking officials could use these.

Touya -he did not know whether to be happy or sad over the matter- was not one of those officials.

Last night as both he and Fai had talked to Sakura telepathically, they had come up with a plan of sorts. With the instructions Sakura had given them, they decided it was high time to start searching for the weapons that she had magically sealed in the cabin.

To retrieve them, they would of course need to use magic or rather, as the blond pilot had pointed out, Touya would need to use magic. Fai had been shot and he was too weak to call upon his barely-there aura for any of the summoning spells to work. But using summoning spells with hands shackled together, while not impossible, was still quite annoying. So he had asked his captors if they could perhaps remove the shackles from around his wrists to allow him more movement. Surprisingly enough, it was the medic that informed him that although they were willing to work with him in order to free themselves, they simply did not trust him enough. So no, he would not be freed before the time for their fight approached.

Annoyed by the reprimand, he had then proceeded to subtly hint that he might as well gain his freedom by informing the greasy haired fatty about what they were planning to do.

"You had your chance to do that," Fai responded calmly, not in the least bit phased by his threat, "But if you've restrained yourself from spilling the beans so far, I'm pretty sure there is a reason that will stop you from so in the future either, Tou-ya."

On hearing the quiet rustling sound of clothes, he quickly stepped away from the table and turned around to observe Fai as he climbed to his feet.

The knowing look in those golden eyes, last night, had told him that the pilot obviously knew something Touya did not want him knowing. Could it be that he knew about him and Sakura? His earlier taunt about him not being Sakura's brother had been too accurate to have been a coincidence. But how could he know that?

Fai gave him a small nod before he moved over to wake up Tomoyo. Touya observed him quietly as the man shook Tomoyo's shoulder, causing her to stir. Frowning slightly, Touya let his mind think back to the thing that had been bugging him ever since he had been rebuked by the medic last night.

Could Fai somehow be related to how Sakura had gone missing? Was this bastard responsible for Sakura not remembering him? Was he perhaps the one who had kidnapped his little Kaijuu all those years ago? That brat did mention something about them removing Sakura's memories. How would the brat know that unless he had been there? But for someone to be able to wipe Sakura's memories so perfectly that it changed her very personality… that person had to be a very strong magician indeed. And this pilot was nothing more than a weakling. His magic was too weak to be of any use. That Gaki, on the other hand, did posses such magic but his mind was not stable enough to perform such a feat. He knew no one else, apart from his now deceased parents, himself or Yukito knew how to cloak their magic so as far as he knew, the medic or the captain were normal humans with not even an ounce of magic in their blood.

Knowing how to cloak their magic had probably been the only thing that had kept him and Yukito safe from becoming slaves of Fei's seal. None of the hunters knew they had magic. That was also one of the reasons why he and Yukito did not possess any high position in the association. They were both just lowly workers.

He suddenly realized that they both were observing him just as quietly and intensely as he was them. Shaking his head he looked away, not wanting to let them see the emotions that he was pretty sure were currently playing across his eyes.

As though knowing what he had been thinking about just a short while ago, Tomoyo spoke up.

"Why do you care about her?"

Touya felt his heart skip a beat.

"Sakura, I mean." She pressed on, "What is she to you?" Even though his face was turned away from them, he could still see the blond pilot observing him closely, out of the corner of his eye. From where he sat, he couldn't tell what the blond was thinking, since his expression was unreadable.

"She's…" he sighed, running his hand through unkempt hair, the manacles causing his other hand to rise as well, "she's my little kaijuu."

He was surprised when neither of them questioned him any further.

"How long have you guys known her?" He asked them after a while, heaving a sigh. "Is this her first time travelling aboard your ship? Where did you find her? Have you-"

"I don't really see why we should answer any of your questions," Tomoyo spoke in clipped tones.

"I answered yours," he shot back, clenching his fists to keep himself from strangling the woman. This was his sister they were discussing! He had every right to know those answers.

"This is her first time travelling with us," Fai was the one who answered, "We picked her up from Koryo and as you have already gathered from our previous conversations, she is headed towards Infinity. We have known her, only for the duration of this trip."

"…" Touya closed his eyes, taking in a deep breath to calm his raging emotions. From the tone that the blond had used, he knew better than to hope for more contribution on their part. They were not going to tell him anything else.

These people were not going to tell him anything, just as he wasn't about to disclose any personal information. They didn't trust him and frankly speaking, he didn't trust them either. So both parties were going to keep their secrets. Besides, he knew another place where he could gain the desired information to puzzle out the pieces of what exactly happened to his little sister. Patience was all it was going to take.

-0-

He felt her soft pink aura graze the very edges of his consciousness. Beside him, he felt the mage sit up straighter.

_Sakura_? He heard Fai speak at the same time as Touya latched onto the mental connection.

_You guys ready?_ Sakura's voice was calm. That meant her job went okay, right? She wasn't hurt. _I hope you didn't have trouble locating them. _

_Yeah_. Touya let out a breath he did not know he had been holding in, while the blond pilot answered his little sister with a small laugh. _We found the weapons quite easily when we knew where to look._

Suddenly remembering about the thing he had found in her possession a short while ago, Touya burst out all of a sudden. _Kai- um… I mean Sakura,_ he corrected himself quickly. He shouldn't call her that yet. She doesn't really remember him, so calling her a monster might not sit too well with her, _what the heck are you doing with a Netcom linkpad?_ But just because he was not going to call her a monster, did not mean he was giving up the right to worry about her.

_I stole it from one of your hunter buddies._ Her calm reply might have made him flinch in any other situation but for now, it only served to anger him further. What the heck? She stole it? She stole it? Is that all she had to say in return?

_They have trackers on these things!_ He almost yelled at her but managed to lower his volume at the last minute. _Do you have any idea what would have happened to you if they traced you with it?_ She was such a fool. Did she not know?

_I know how to take care of myself, Hunter._ Her cold response stung as though he had been physically slapped by her. _Disabling the tracer spell was one of the first things I did, so you don't _

_have get yourself worked up over nothing._

_Why can't you just call me by my name _… he sighed softly, not caring if she heard him or not. So what if she didn't remember him, couldn't she still call him by his name at the very least. Snubbing down the hurt, he managed to get his emotions under control. _Anyway, when do we move?_

Sakura seemed to hesitate for a fraction of a second, but when she answered, her voice was firm and completely in control. _I'll be docking Kishimu in five minutes._

He heard Tomoyo's clothes shift as she moved towards him. Wordlessly he raised his hands for her to unshackle. Rubbing his wrists, Touya jumped to his feet, a wild grin gracing his features.

"Let's go."

_**A/N:Next up is the big fight. I wonder how many more chapters it will take for Sakura to finally remember Touya. What do you guys think, hmmm? Any guesses?**_


	26. A Promise

It was utter chaos. Somehow, after a whole night's rest, the blond pilot had managed to regain enough of his magic to be able to perform a few lethal yet flashy spells that managed to halve the number of their opponents. The lavender-eyed beauty also proved to be quite a formidable opponent for the unsuspecting guards stationed aboard _Little Dragon_.

Touya had healed enough to be able to keep his own in the fight that ensued. Sakura's plan involved them wreaking havoc aboard _Little Dragon_ while she would deal with the guards on _Kishimu_. Once the three had dealt with the ones aboard _Little Dragon_ they were to proceed to board _Kishimu_. Sakura would meet them halfway and direct them to the holding cells where they could get Kurogane out, while she herself would leave to deal with Ryanban.

Sakura was obviously enraged and offended at having been blackmailed into doing dirty work for one of her customers, and she had stated in very clear terms her desire to extract revenge on the man, to make an example out of him for others to fear. Touya had found himself wondering for hours on what had happened that changed his little kaijuu from the sweet, forgiving girl that she once was into the fiery, vengeful person she was now.

He had offered to accompany her to Ryanban but his idea had been shot down by Sakura, stating she'd rather face that man alone than have a hunter watch her back. Knowing it was futile to pursue the matter further, he had dropped the topic.

He remembered how stubborn his sister could be. If she said she was doing something the way she wanted, nothing in the entire multitude of galaxies would make her change her mind.

Fifteen minutes into the fight, just as they were dealing with the last guards on the ship, Touya felt a sudden chill go down his spine as a sharp, suffocating aura pervaded the ship. Out of the corner of his eye, he saw the blond freeze for a second, his eyes widening to the size of dinner plates, and for a fraction of that time, Touya thought the latter's eyes flickered to a sharp cerulean shade.

He was brought back to the present situation as he was forced to dodge a new attack, courtesy of his last opponent since he had dealt with the rest of his buddies. With eyes burning in rage, Ryanban's guard lunged forward, eyes burning in rage as the hunter managed to avoid all his advances with graceful ease.

With a loud roar, he charged forward, fully intending to cut Touya in half but at the very last second, Touya's hand shot out, grabbing a hold of his opponent's hands, effectively stopping him in his tracks.

The guard tried pulling his hand free, but Touya's iron hard grip on his hand did not allow the other man to budge even a fraction of an inch. Seeing the other man's frustration grow every passing second, the hunter allowed a low chuckle to escape from his lips.

"Lights out for you," Touya said softly, twisting his opponent's arms in such a manner that the guard was impaled by his own blades.

Choking on his own blood as it spilled out from his mouth, the guard fell to the floor, his body falling motionless within seconds.

"Where's your pilot?" Touya asked the lavender-eyed woman as he raced towards her, taking on one of her opponents.

"I think he went on ahead." She replied, pulling out her blades from the body she had just felled. Turning her back towards Touya and her latest kill, Tomoyo moved towards the docking bay door.

"You know the passcode, right?" Touya asked as he stopped behind her.

"Yeah," she answered pressing the required alphanumeric codes in the right sequence. With a small beep, the door began to slide open.

"Good," Touya breathed right next to her ear before striking her at the base of her neck with the pommel of his sword. "I'm sorry but I have to do what I must. I hope you can forgive me for that, Miss Tomoyo." He said, dragging her prone body across the docking bay, leaning her against the wall next to the stairs.

-0-

"I thought I told you to stay and wait for me in the stupid ship!" Sakura yelled angrily, punching one of the guards in the face, sending him crumpling to the floor in a heap.

Syaoran's only response was his rather infuriating, feral grin. Huffing angrily, Sakura turned her attention back to the fight.

A blond blur entered the fray, taking out opponents with swift and precise moves. Together the three were done with their enemies far more quickly than Sakura had anticipated initially.

All of a sudden an alarm began to blare out, flashing red lights to alert everyone aboard _Kishimu._

"Shit." Sakura cursed, her eyes flickering towards the doors currently sealing shut everywhere. "Kurogane is probably being kept in the lower levels of the ship. Take the door to your right and keep on going straight down. Ignore the side corridors. Spark a little bit of magic through the dead end. It will unseal the passage to the holding cells. Get Kurogane back to _Little Dragon._" She instructed Fai in a serious tone. "I'm gonna go deal with Ryanban. Syaoran," she turned to look at the amber-eyed male, "Go with Fai and don't you dare try to follow me, got it?"

Their eyes met and a jolt of electricity shot down Sakura's spine and images of a time long forgotten began flashing past her eyes. A dark haired woman smiling and hugging a laughing amber-eyed boy, a green-eyed woman kissing her head and tucking her in bed, a brown-haired man teaching her how to read, an older version of Syaoran sword fighting with a barely six year old boy, an ocean-blue eyed male catching her as she fell from a glider…

Voices loud and soft, hysterical and jovial, afraid and ecstatic rang in her ears, drowning out the blaring alarms and flashing lights.

_Mother…_ a boy laughed.

_Goodnight, darling,_ a woman whispered.

_Say it like this,_ a man spoke.

_Duck!_ Another man yelled.

_Oof! You're still so fat, Kaijuu…_ her brother groaned and Sakura felt her heart skip several beats.

"Syaoran, let's go." Fai's words broke the spell and the green-eyed girl felt the memories slip through her mind like sand through a fisted fingers. She tried to grasp at them but the severity of her current situation prevented her from doing so for long.

"Go!" Sakura had to bodily turn the amber-eyed male around to make him follow Fai. "I'll see you guys in a while."

"Sakura!" she heard the hunter yell in alarm. She turned around to find the body of a dead guard fall to the floor. "Pay more attention to your surroundings, you stupid Kaijuu!"

"T-Touya?" her eyes widened in shock as she took in his peeved appearance.

"Oh, so now she decides to say my name," he grumbled, straightening up as he walked past her towards the end of the corridor that led to _Kishimu'_s docking bay.

"I am not a monster, you jerk!" she huffed angrily, stomping past him but making sure to land one of her feet on his.

"Ow!" the hunter cried, "Damn it, Kaijuu! One would think after all these years you'd have lost _some_ weight."

"Nii-saaannn…" Sakura whined childishly, "I am not fat!" it took a few precious seconds for the words to register in her mind and when they finally did, Sakura's body froze.

"S-Sakura… You rememb- Duck!" whatever it was that Touya was about to say, he had to cut off to warn her of the approaching danger. Sakura snapped into action, dodging the laser-blaster shots that were being fired at them as she flicked her wrists and grabbed the handles of her throwing knives that slid into her hands.

"You messed with the wrong girl, Ryanban!" with that yell, the brunette raced forward, towards the fat man that was standing behind the group of his infamous fighters. A pink aura surrounded her body, deflecting the blaster shots that she did not bother to dodge as she rushed at the group standing next to a smaller, speedier ship than the _Kishimu._ On its side, Sakura noticed, was an emblazoned _Mokona_.

_Mokona_ was one of the two fastest ships in the entire Galaxy. The other ship belonged to Yuuko Ichihara.

In the background, Sakura was aware of Touya swearing at one of the guards who had managed to nearly blow his head off his shoulders. She managed a smirk, when the hunter summoned his ocean-blue aura for protection against the shots, magic permeating the air as it flared out in the docking area in a manner similar to Sakura's.

-0-

"Oh and by the way, just so you know, I did get the information you wanted," Sakura said carelessly as she tossed the info-sphere in one hand, watching a bleeding Ryanban as he crawled away from her. "But I don't think I'll be handing it over to you. After all," a frown settled on her normally angelic features, "you dared to blackmail Cherry _after_ breaking the terms of your contract with her so…" she grinned sadistically, watching the man as he paled. She flicked her wrist and a choked, gurgling sound filled the otherwise quiet air, "bye-bye. Have a nice trip to hell."

Catching the sphere out of the air, she pocketed it, turning her attention back to the only other person alive in the bay with her.

"I have to say, I am certainly impressed by the way you handle your magic." She looked over her shoulder to find the space empty. "Hunter?" her jade eyes darted around the expanse of the hangar, her heart clenching fearfully as she found no signs of him or his body. "Hey… Touya?"

"I'll find out who did this to you, Sakura," she heard his voice respond over the speakers installed inside the hangar.

The sound of engines powering up alerted her to the fact that the hunter was inside _Mokona._ At the same time, she felt a light, cerulean aura flare out somewhere in the lower levels of the ship, battling the suffocating forest green aura that belonged to Syaoran.

"Hey, wait a second! Hunter! Don't you dare steal that ship!" she yelled over the blasting off the engines, her heart pounding violently against her ribcage as she noticed the foreign aura beginning to dominate over Syaoran's.

"It's a promise." The hunter said seriously before the connection was cut off and _Mokona_ lifted off the ground.

_Sakura!_ Fai yelled for her telepathically just as Syaoran's aura dimmed and then fell dormant. _You have to get down here! Syaoran passed out and more guards are coming!_

Casting one look over her shoulder at the solemn profile of the hunter observing her through the viewing bay of _Mokona,_ Sakura turned on her heels and raced back towards the corridor that she had used to arrive at the docking bay.

_**A/N: I'm evil, aren't I? She had almost remembered him. Ah well, worry not my friends for the time is near. Take a guess at how many more chapters till she does.**_


	27. Apologies

_**A/N: I was planning on putting this up **_**after**_** my last final tomorrow morning as a celebration but then I decided to treat to you to double updates instead. So expect another update on this fic tomorrow. ;) ;)**_

_**For now, enjoy!**_

"I'm sorry for endangering your lives," Sakura bowed her head at the glaring Kurogane. Tomoyo placed her hand on his shoulder in an attempt to assuage his anger, but it didn't work well when her own lavender-eyes were filled with so much disappointment as she looked at Sakura. Fai was leaning against a wall a little ways away from everyone, breathing heavily with his eyes closed. He had expended quite a lot of his magic while trying to protect Syaoran from the reinforcements as he was waiting for Sakura's arrival.

Sakura had helped him locate Kurogane, who had wordlessly picked up Syaoran and slung him across his shoulder as they had raced back toward _Little Dragon_ where they found a stirring Tomoyo.

After hearing Tomoyo tell them about how the hunter had taken her by surprise and knocked her out, Kurogane had turned his furious glare on Sakura, demanding to know everything.

Knowing that she owed it to them, Sakura had then proceeded to explain the nature of her job as well as her history with the hunters and other overlords in the galactic underworld. She even told them about her amnesia and her quest to find her memories. She decided not to bring in Syaoran or his seal in her explanation or their connection to her past. She did tell them about Syaoran sneaking away on the ship she had used to get to the acidic planet and then, just to ensure her own life, she had retold an edited version of her mission. One that involved Syaoran staying safely behind at the watchtower while she collected the info and returned to collect him before coming back.

"I know you guys definitely hate me for bringing this all upon you," she continued, not daring to meet Kurogane's eye, "after everything you guys did for me, saving my life on Koryo. I apologize for inconveniencing you and for putting your lives in jeopardy, especially Syaoran's. If you want me to, I'll leave immediately. They want me, so I'll do something to alert the hunters to my presence someplace else. They won't bother you after that."

"No!" Syaoran yelled all of a sudden from his spot behind Kurogane, determinedly walking towards Sakura to stand next to her. Everyone, including Sakura, could only gape at him as he grabbed hold of one of her hands, not looking at her but glaring angrily at his mentor and adoptive brother. "No." he repeated firmly, squeezing her hand once in a comforting manner.

"Tch." Overcoming his initial shock, Kurogane clenched one of his fists as he strode towards the pair.

"Kurogane," Tomoyo warned quietly but he paid her no mind.

Syaoran seemed to shrink back a little but stubbornly kept on holding to Sakura's hand.

"You're right. You _lied_ to us." he growled menacingly, "By not telling us the truth, by letting us assume things about you. _You_ were the reason hunters attacked us in Clow. _You_ led that bastard, Ryanban, to hijack our ship. _You're_ the reason my pilot was shot. _You_ took Syaoran down to that acidic planet. And because of _you_ the hunter we captured knocked out Tomoyo. _You're_ the reason the kid is fuckin' glaring at me and right now I want to do nothing more than stuff you into an airlock and flush you out into deep space."

Sakura lowered her head in resignation as she saw the red-eyed man raise his fisted hand.

_Thump_!

He boxed her on the head before continuing in a slightly softer tone, though the gruffness was still there, "but you also ensured that we came out alive. You could have left us and ran off when you got off the ship but you came back. You killed that bastard. I really don't care if it was for your personal reasons or not but you did. And through it all, you kept the kid safe. "

"What's more, you made Syaoran _glare_ at Kurogane!" Tomoyo squealed all of a sudden, rushing forward and throwing her arms around the two teens. "Ever since you boarded our ship, Syaoran has been coming out of his shell. Don't think you can ditch us all now." She added sternly as she let go of them and grabbed hold of Sakura's shoulders to look in her eyes, "Especially since I think I might be having a concussion because of that stupid hunter knocking me out. I think I'm going to need lots of bedrest." She pretended to sway on her feet as she took a couple of steps away from her. "We're going to need a new cook."

"Umm… The things I cook are rarely edible," Sakura responded in a small voice.

"Nonsense," Tomoyo waved her off, resuming her previous energetic disposition, "Fai over there can be your cooking instructor."

"You got that right." The blond grinned widely, though the dark circles underneath his golden eyes and the general pallor of his skin sort of ruined the effect. "I am one mean cook."

"Che…" Kurogane scoffed, "the only thing you know how to cook is sugary crap."

"Why, Kurgy, you wound me." Fai said in mock hurt.

Next to Sakura, Syaoran started chuckling softly which slowly turned into full-blown laughter.

Apart from Sakura, who had seen him laughing before, everyone else was gaping at the amber-eyed male as he laughed at the captain's and the pilot's antics. But after a short while the mood lightened and they all joined in.

"Oh, yeah," Fai laughed joyously, "We are definitely not letting you go anywhere anytime soon."

"By the way, Sakura," Tomoyo said once they all quieted down. "We're going to make a detour before going to Infinity."

"We are?" Fai and Kurogane voiced their surprise.

"We are." Tomoyo stated firmly. "We're heading over to Piffle first. I need to shop for supplies."

"And?" Kurogane asked cautiously, obviously used to the lavender-eyed medic's sudden announcements.

"And clothes!" she declared happily, grabbing hold of Sakura's free hand- the other one was still being held by Syaoran. "Ohohoho, we are going to have so much fun shopping for clothes!"

Sakura, feeling indebted to the group for their kindness did not have the heart to tell Tomoyo that she in fact _hated_ shopping for clothes.

_What have I gotten myself into?_ She mentally sighed, listening to the older woman go on and on about the various styles that would look perfect on her, the colors that would bring out her eyes the best and compliment her skin the most.

_I wish Chi and Chunhyang were here._ Sakura thought trepidation. _They would have been so much better for this sort of thing._

-0-

Touya looked at the controls of the ship he had just stolen and used the ship's computer to connect to the gal-net. Giving a verbal command for the computer to dial an intra-galactic call, Touya dug around in his pocket and pulled out a small gray semi-sphere not any larger in size than his fisted hand.

Placing in on top of the control console in front of him- the flat side of the sphere facing downwards, he watched the holo-screen in front of him flicker as the ship's computer tried to connect the call. Waiting for it to work, he fingered the top of the semi-sphere, tracing the pink cherry blossom pattern embossed on its surface.

"It's me, Touya," he said, as soon as the screen stabilized and showed the face of a pale-skinned man with grey eyes hidden behind a pair of spectacles. "I found her." Digging around in his jacket for the other device that he had managed to snag before leaving _Little Dragon_, Touya continued.

"I'm sending something that'll catch your interest for sure."

-0-

Far away, somewhere in a dark room, footage played on a wide holoscreen, showing a pair of teenagers fighting against a large faction of soldiers from the Reed Enterprise Research Lab. A hand pressed on a control panel and the footage froze on a particular scene, zooming in on one of the teenagers.

"Xiaolang," a deep, gravelly voice chuckled, noticing the cold yet equally intense look on the amber-eyed boy's face. "You can try and run all you want, but you'll never be able to hide."

"Even after all these cycles," a second voice pointed out, "it seems like our precious Cherry Blossom still has her uses."

"Indeed." The first voice replied. "Indeed she does."

"So what are your orders now?"

"Retrieve the experiments," the first voice commanded, "we will pick up everything from where we left off."

"Understood."

"Oh, and if you happen to run into that mage again while you are at it," the first voice added as an afterthought, "tell him to say hello to his twin for me."

_**A/N: So Tomoyo finally has a chance to dress Sakura in cute clothes. I wonder how that will go. ;) And Sakura managed to wiggle her way out of trouble with the crew on Little Dragon. Lucky her. **_

_**Who could this mysterious person be that Touya had contacted? And what exactly did he manage to steal from the ship? Can someone smell trouble in the near future?**_

_**Don't forget to leave a review.**_

_**-Nims**_


	28. Niisan and the Kaijuu

_**A/N: Yes! Only a year and half to go, then I'm free! Free! Freeeee!**_

_**Ahem… yeah, I'll be finished with my degree in a year and a half. Can't wait to get out of this place. :D**_

_**Plus, my fortnight long semester break just started so ~I'm going home *_***_

_**As you can tell, I'm in a very good mood today so I shan't make you wait any longer and let you guys go ahead and read on before my babbling mouth starts another rant. ;)**_

_**Enjoy!**_

Sakura paced around in her cabin worriedly, biting her lips as her eyes roamed the entirety of the space around her.

"Damn it!" she growled angrily, kicking at the wall next to the door before grabbing her foot and hopping around while crying "Ow. Ow. Ow… Hey! It's not funny." She fumed, snapping her enraged, jade-eyed gaze at a silently chuckling Syaoran. The chocolate-haired teen was currently sitting on her bunk, watching her rant and curse for the past hour and a half.

"That stupid hunter stole my laptop!" she cried, "it had all my important data on it. How the heck am I supposed to do my job if I don't have any info? What's more," she slumped at the floor in resignation, "he took the linkpad with him too." Closing her eyes, she rested the back of her head against the metal wall. "Stupid Nii-san…" she mumbled in annoyance, "It's not like those hunter buddies of his couldn't have given him another one of those. He _is_ a hunter and a mage on top of that. He could have just walked up to them and demanded-"

"Can't." Syaoran quiet voice interrupted her mid-rant, making her open her eyes and look at him.

"What do you mean, can't?" she asked, narrowing her eyes in confusion.

Climbing to his feet, Syaoran silently padded over to where she sat, crouching down on the floor next to her. Wordlessly, he took her hand and placed it on top of his heart, taking a deep breath.

A spark of magic flowed into her body from the spot where Syaoran's fingers touched her flesh and she found herself flung into a world of darkness. She looked around in search of source of light but found none.

"_It's no use, Yukito."_ She heard the hunter's voice echo from all around her. _"Those bastards refuse to help us."_

"_I know, Touya."_ this voice belonged to the silver-haired hunter.

"_But we can't give up."_ Touya cried in a desperate voice. "_She's all I have left. We _have_ to find her, Yuki. I won't be able to live with myself if anything happens to her."_

The silence returned, making Sakura wonder just what that had been about. She felt a little irritated with Syaoran because he had used his powers again, even when she had asked him not to. But then again, when had he ever listened to her? Refraining herself from sighing, she waited patiently knowing that if that was all Syaoran had wanted to show her, or in this case, make her hear, he would have let her go by now.

"_Touya, we have to join the Hunters association."_

"_What?"_

"_It's the only way we will be able to get some information on Sakura-chan."_

"_Have you gone crazy?"_ Touya exploded inside her head, "_We'll be handing ourselves to that bastard on a silver platter if we go in there asking for induction."_

"_It's been almost a year." _The other hunter, Yukito, explained in a calmer tone, "_We have exhausted all other resources, Touya."_

"_I know, but…"_ the former trailed off, "_They'd be able to pick up on our magic even _before_ we step into that office."_

"_Are you scared?"_

"_Yes. I'd be lying if I said no." _Touya sighed._ "But don't think I'm a coward Yuki. I'm willing to lay down my _life_ for her. I'm just…worried."_

"_I can understand perfectly."_

"_Then why…? You _know_ we'll be off no help to her if we end up with that blasted seal."_

"_They're not going to help us if we try asking them to look for her."_ Yukito explained still managing to keep his voice calm. "_We both know they're not doing anything at all. Heck… they're even covering up any leads we've managed to track down so far. But if we can get access to their database systems, we'd have no trouble finding her."_

"_It's a great plan, Yukito, but how the heck are we going to keep them from realizing we are mages?"_

"_Simple. We cloak ourselves."_

"_Cloak oursel- of course! Yukito, you're a genius!"_

"_Why thank you, Touya. I am so glad you finally noticed."_

"_Oh shut it." _Touya laughed good-naturedly and Sakura found herself missing hearing that laugh, _"We're going to get her back in no time."_

"_Hang on, Kaijuu. Your Nii-san is coming for you."_

With a jolt, Sakura wrenched her hand free from Syaoran, abruptly ending the transmission of memories from him to her. Eyes wide and breathing heavily, she gaped at the amber-eyed boy who looked at her with nothing but understanding and sympathy in his gaze.

"N-Nii-san…" she whispered breathlessly, "Nii-san… he's my… Nii-san… S-Syaoran," she found her vision blurring as something warm and wet began trailing down her cheeks, "he's my Nii-san…"

"S-Syao-r-ran… T-Touya is… my N-Nii-s-an…" she hiccupped, heart-wrenching sobs escaping her as everything that had passed between her and the ocean-eyed man flashed before her eyes. She still couldn't remember anything from her past but… but she finally understood the meaning of the word that had been haunting her for so long.

Nii-san meant brother.

That hunter was her _brother._

-0-

"Good morning, everyone!" Sakura bounded into the galley, a cheerful smile plastered on her lips as she slipped into a seat next to Syaoran. The amber-eyed teen lifted his head to give her a soft smile before resuming eating his breakfast.

"Good morning, Sakura." Tomoyo returned her greeting, "I never knew you loved shopping this much. If I had known I might have suggested a trip long before now."

Inwardly sweatdropping at the thought, Sakura shook her head. "No. It's not that." She grinned brightly, "I just remembered something last night."

"Remembered something? Oh, you mean of your past? That's wonderful." The medic smiled, placing a plate of pancakes before her. "Mind sharing what it is?"

"The hunter that we captured, he is my brother." She announced, making Fai choke on his juice.

"What?" Kurogane snapped, while Tomoyo moved to help the blond pilot as he thumped on his chest to clear his airways. Syaoran, however, gave no reaction whatsoever to her statement.

"That's why he didn't send anyone after us till now." Sakura nodded, the grin refusing to leave her face as she dug in. "Wow, these pancakes are delicious, Tomoyo."

"Th-thank you Sakura. Although…" the medic hesitated, biting her lip worriedly as she looked at Syaoran, "are you _sure_ about him being your brother?"

"Ahan. I dreamt up one of my memories last night. I _know _he's my brother."

"I see." Tomoyo nodded, slipping back into her seat once Fai had recovered.

"So what are you going to do now?" the blond asked, once again bringing the juice to his lips to take a careful sip, "he escaped and I'm pretty sure he didn't leave any contact information lying around the ship for you."

"Well, I'm going shopping with Tomoyo as planned." she bit into the pancake on her fork, savoring its sweet taste as it melted on her tongue. "Seeing as my annoying brother decided that it was okay for him to steal my laptop and the link-pad, I'm gonna look around for a secure Gal-net café after the shopping spree. I'll get Chi to make Chunhyang track him down through Mokona. Chunhyang is one of _the_ best trackers there are in this galaxy. "

"How is she going to track down Mokona?" Fai asked curiously. "As far as I know, there are only two models in existence. What makes you think that hunter… um, I mean your brother will be in possession of one. No one really knows who owns them."

"As a matter of fact," Sakura grinned, feeling euphoric at having finally found a part of her past. "I happen to know both the owners."

"Oh?" Kurogane quirked a brow at this.

"Yeah. One belongs to my employer, Yuuko Ichihara." She nodded, "and the other was previously in the possession of Ryanban, but Touya stole it to escape."

"It all makes sense now." Tomoyo murmured thoughtfully, cutting into her pancakes absentmindedly. "The way he acted around you. All those times demanding to see you. Not selling us out. Helping us escape. It finally makes sense."

"It does," her smile grew softer, remembering the way he had looked at her when she had accidentally called him Nii-san the night he escaped. "He's my big brother."

_**A/N: Review if you think it's about damn time she remembered. Review if you think I ought to sleep all day long in these upcoming vacations of mine. Review if you think I ought to take a break from writing for a while and relax. Review if you thought about breaking my neck for even thinking the thing I mentioned before this one. Review if you… ah, what the heck. Just drop me a nice long review since I'm in a very happy mood and reviews make me happier. And make my plot bunnies mutate faster which in turn urges me to write faster which results in faster updates. *wink wink***_

_**So till next time.**_

_**-Ciao.**_


	29. Shopping Trip Shocks

_**A/N: It's back to classes for me in the morning. T_T It seems like just yesterday that my break had begun. *sobs***_

_**Anyhow, here's the chapter you guys have all been waiting for. Sakura and Tomoyo's shopping trip! With a very unexpected twist thrown near the end. ;) ;)**_

_**Enjoy!**_

"Sakura, you _have_ to try this on," Tomoyo's voice rang throughout the shop.

"No _way_!" the jade-eyed brunette shook her head, backing away from the medic who was advancing towards her with gleaming lavender eyes. "No! I'm not going to wear it!"

"Aww… But Sakuraaaa…" Tomoyo wailed, making the younger girl wince at the pitch of the other's voice.

"No." she responded firmly. "There is no way in hell that I'm…"

"…going to wear it." She groaned, stepping out of the changing room, plugging her fingers in her ears as soon as the older woman opened her mouth to let an ear-shattering squeal.

"That looks absolutely _amazing_ on you," she gushed, dragging her towards the mirror. "It's decided. You're buying this dress."

"But Tomoyo, how in the world am I going to fight in this thing?" Sakura tried to change her mind.

"You can use that glamour-spell thing to change out of it." Tomoyo waved her hand dismissively, pushing her back into the changing room and handing her another pair of clothes to try on, this one a black knee-length skirt and a green halter neck top with cherry blossoms embroidered on its lower right corner. "We're buying this dress." She informed the saleslady with a sweet smile as Sakura held it out of the curtains for her the lavender-eyed woman to take.

"I don't even know _when_ I'll be able to wear it." Sakura sighed as she once again parted the curtains and stepped through, "That's something to be worn to one of those high society dinner parties."

"Perfect!" Tomoyo clapped her hands in approval, rushing inside the changing stall and stuffing Sakura's original clothes, a pair of faded jeans and a pink t-shirt, into one of her shopping bags before walking out. "You can keep on wearing this. We'll remove the tag once I pay for it. Oh, and don't worry, you work for Ichihara, I'm pretty sure you attend plenty of those _high society dinner parties._"

"Okay, you got me." She hung her head in defeat. "At least let me pay for my clothes."

"After all that you've done for us?" Tomoyo narrowed her eyes at the younger female. "No chance. I'm buying these for you and that's final."

"But-"

"No."

"I-"

"Ah-ah-ah"

"Tomoyo, I-"

"Sakura, give it a rest. You can't change my mind."

Sakura opened her mouth to protest further, but seeing the look on the other's face, she closed it, murmuring a small 'Thank you' as the saleslady smiled at them, handing Tomoyo back her credit cube.

"See, that wasn't so hard." She laughed, cutting the tags off Sakura's new clothes before taking her hand to pull her out into the streets once more.

"Now, to the Shoes Emporium!" Tomoyo declared enthusiastically.

"Wha- but, Tomoyo," Sakura almost whined, realizing that her torture was nowhere near its end. "Come _on_! I have very comfortable shoes."

"But those sneakers are definitely not going to go with that beautiful dress we just bought." Tomoyo explained patiently as though telling a four year old that two plus two equals four. "You need a classy pair of stilettos for that baby."

"S-Stilettos?" the jade-eyed girl stuttered in horror. "Tomoyo, I- Whoa!" she cried out, bumping into someone and ending up on her bottom in a rather painful fall.

"Oh. I'm so sorry, miss." The man who had hit Sakura apologized as he held out his hand to help her up, adjusting a pair of spectacles back on his nose. "I didn't see you there… S-Sakura? I never thought I'd bump into you _here_ of all places."

"How do you know my name?" the girl immediately grew defensive, observing him through narrowed eyes. The man seemed to be around Touya's age, with a pointed face with pale skin and dark shoulder-length hair currently pulled into a ponytail at the base of his neck. A pair of soft grey eyes observed her through round-rimmed spectacles.

"You mean you can't recognize me?" the man asked in disbelief, "it's me, Kyle, your cousin."

"Cousin?" she repeated in an equally disbelieving voice.

"Yeah," he nodded smiling brightly, "I haven't seen you in _ages_." He scratched the back of his head in an apologetic manner, "I didn't mean to vanish on you guys so suddenly, but I got into one of the best medical colleges in the galaxy and I had no time to let you know. I bet Touya would want to kill me for it." He laughed lightly, "Speaking of which, how is he?"

"Umm… I haven't seen my brother in a long time either," Sakura admitted, lowering her head to avoid his gaze.

"Oh." The man visibly deflated before his gaze fell on Tomoyo. "And who might this lovely lady be? I'm Kyle, Sakura's cousin."

"Tomoyo Daidouji," the medic smiled politely as Kyle took her hand and brushed his lips against the back of it when he introduced himself. "I'm a friend of Sakura's."

"A pleasure to meet you." Kyle smiled charmingly, as he let go of her hand. "So, if you don't mind my asking, where are you ladies headed off to?"

"We were just headed to-"

"The ice-cream parlor!" Sakura interrupted Tomoyo all of a sudden. "Would you like to join us?"

"Only if you allow me to buy both of you lunch." He replied, smile still in place.

"But we…" Tomoyo trailed off seeing the pleading look on Sakura's face. "Of course." She smiled back at Sakura's cousin, feeling happy for the jade-eyed girl. She just found another family member. Maybe he would be able to help her uncover the past she was searching for.

-0-

"Oh, God, really?" Tomoyo laughed, dipping her spoon into the bowl of ice-cream before her.

"Yes. Sakura was quite a rebellious young girl when she was little." Kyle nodded while Sakura lowered her head, blushing at the thought of having hit this charming man, "I can still feel the pain from where she hit me one time."

"I'm sure she didn't hit that hard." Tomoyo said in an attempt to make Sakura feel better.

"Oh, you have _no _idea of how hard she can hit." Kyle shook his head before looking outside. "So tell me, what brings you to Piffle?" he asked, looking back at the two women seated across from him, "Judging from the amount of shopping you have done, I'm sure you're just visiting."

"You got that right," the medic answered, "we're only stopping for a day to replenish our supplies. We're actually headed to Infinity."

"I see. And you ladies are travelling alone?" he quirked a brow, a worried frown adorning his lips.

"No, my boyfriend owns a cargo freighter. We're travelling on that."

"Ah." He nodded, "I hope your pilot is a capable man, no offence to his abilities or anything, but the flight from here to Infinity is quite perilous."

"Oh, Fai is one of the best there is." Tomoyo answered nonchalantly.

"Fai Flourite?" he looked surprised.

"Yes," Sakura joined in the conversation wondering how her cousin knew about the pilot, "Do you know him?"

"It _is_ a small world after all." Kyle laughed lightly, "I met him a couple of cycles ago, here on Piffle. He was travelling with another young man named Syaoran at the time. The poor guy was in need of some serious medical attention. It seemed he had met with some sort of accident. They left before his treatment could have been finished though." He finished with a sad sigh, shaking his head regretfully. "I wonder how he is doing now."

"He's doing a lot better than before," Sakura replied making Kyle look at her.

"So he is still with Fai?" Kyle inquired politely.

"Yes." Tomoyo answered this time, "Syaoran is still with us."

"I don't mean to impose or anything," Sakura's cousin rubbed the back of his head in a sheepish gesture, "but would you mind taking me along when you head back to your hotel room or the docking station?" He asked in a hopeful tone, "I'd love to meet them again."

"Of course." The lavender-eyed medic agreed happily, "we still have a few things that we need to buy but we can meet here again in say… two hours time?"

"I'll be here." Kyle gave them an eager smile.

"We'll see you then, in that case." Tomoyo said climbing to her feet as Kyle did the same.

"I'm really glad to have seen you again, Sakura." Kyle shook her hand. "Heaven must really be smiling down at me today." He grinned. "By bumping into you, I not only found my long lost cousin but two old friends as well."

"Me too, Kyle." The jade-eyed girl smiled sweetly, picking up a few shopping bags while Tomoyo picked up the rest. "So I guess I'll see you in a couple of hours."

"Yes. See you then."

"Oh, my God!" Sakura squealed as soon as they stepped out on the sidewalk. "Tomoyo, I am so happy! In less than two days, I found my brother _and_ cousin. Am I lucky or what?"

"You're really lucky." the medic laughed as they headed into the Shoes Emporium, without the ecstatic girl paying any attention to where they were going. "Because not only did you find two relatives, we're also going to find you the perfect shoes!"

"Shoes?" Sakura stumbled and almost fell, coming down from her high as she remembered what it was that they were supposed to be doing before they had bumped into Kyle.

-0-

Kyle was waiting patiently for them, seated at the table they had all consumed their ice-cream at. He waved them over as they entered the quaint little ice-cream parlor that doubled as a coffee shop. It was little before the second sunset, the smaller of the two suns on Piffle having already set an hour back.

The night on this planet got really cold so it came as no big surprise to Sakura to see that Kyle was sporting a warm-looking jacket that reached a little above his knees when he stood up.

"I figured we could all use a cup of coffee before heading to the docking stations." He told them as the girls seated themselves at the table, "the nights can get rather cold over here."

"I know what you mean." Sakura agreed, "Coffee seems like a very good idea."

The topics they conversed about were nothing out of the ordinary, ranging from the weather to the current politics to the status of the availability of proper medical care in some of the distant planetary systems of the galaxy.

"Chocolate?" he offered, digging inside an inner pocket of his jacket before holding out two wrapped bars for the girls to take as they stepped onto the streets a while later.

Handing them their treats, he dug around for a third bar, this one a different brand name from the ones he had given them. "I can't tolerate sweetened chocolates, I'm afraid." He admitted, unwrapping the bar and taking a bite from it, "but I know not a lot of people can appreciate the delight that is dark chocolate." Looking over at the girls happily munching on their bars, he chuckled quietly, "I can see you two prefer the side of light over dark."

"Hmm?" Sakura tilted her head to the side in confusion.

"Chocolate." He clarified causing her to giggle as comprehension dawned on her face.

"Oh. Yeah. I'm definitely on the side of light. I can't say much about Tomoyo though." Sakura added, nibbling another bit off, "she can be pretty evil sometimes. Especially when it comes to shopping for shoes." She glanced sideways at the medic.

"I resent that," Tomoyo retorted in a slightly offended tone, "But you have to admit. That is one _killer_ pair of shoes I got you to buy, didn't I?"

"Yeah, they most definitely are." Sakura agreed, laughing good-naturedly before coming to a halt outside a ship. "We're here." She announced, watching the chrome-colored lettering embossed on the dark metal of the ship.

"_Little Dragon."_ Tomoyo said proudly as she entered a code on the small panel next to the hatch that led to the cargo bay. "This is it." It gave a hiss as cool air rushed out of the ship's interior as the locking mechanism unsealed. "Let's head inside and dump these bags someplace, shall we?" she marched up the ramp, looking at the other two over her shoulder. "Fai will probably be down in the engine room."

Once she had the dark haired man seated at the table in the galley, she took Sakura's bags from her, motioning for her to sit down as well while she put the bags away in the jade-eyed girl's cabin after assuring the two that she would call Fai on her way back.

Sakura sat at the table, smiling at her cousin as millions of questions raced through her mind. But she refrained from asking any since he definitely did not know about her amnesia so it might come off a bit strange. For some reason, she could feel her limbs getting stiff at the thought of making her cousin think she was strange. A cold numb sort of feeling began to settle on her body but before she had any time to ponder over why she was feeling this way, she could hear Tomoyo return with Fai.

"I have to say Tomoyo," Fai's laughter drifted towards them as the pair approached the galley. "I was afraid you were going to buy the whole shopping district but I can see you settled on a couple of shops."

"Very funny, Fai." The medic responded lightly, sneaking a glance at Sakura and her cousin who was sitting with his back turned towards the entrance. "Guess who we ran into while shopping?"

"Kurgy?" the blond ventured, not noticing the figure sitting before Sakura until he stood right across the behind jade-eyed girl, behind the stranger. "Or not." He laughed, realizing his mistake, "Who's this?"

"This is my Sakura's cousin," Tomoyo beamed brightly at Fai, her voice bursting from happiness. "Who also happens to be an old friend of yours."

"Oh? And who might-" Fai broke off in mid sentence as the man finally turned around to face him. "You…" the pilot breathed as the color drained from his face. His eyes widening in shock as his grin was replaced by a look of horror.

"Why hello there, Fai," Kyle smiled brightly, ignoring the look of alarm on the two females' faces at the blonde's reaction. "Or should I say, _Yuui_."

Sakura was paralyzed in place as realization dawned upon her.

_**A/N: So how's **_**that**_** for a cliffie? ;)**_

_**Wonder what's the history between Fai, Syaoran and Sakura's cousin aka Kyle. Are Kyle and Fai really who they claim to be? Or is there something more sinister involved in their pasts? Only time will tell. Though I would love to hear your thoughts on the matter.**_


	30. HiStory

_**A/N: Been almost a month since my last update but I hope that the extra length of this chapter and the whole lot of shocking revelations would be enough to appease you guys. *looks hopeful* Just a bit of a warning for the future though, my updates for all of my fics from now on will be sporadic, since my schedule and life itself has gotten a bit more hectic and I can't really spare much time for writing anymore, so yeah. But don't worry, I **_**will**_** finish the fics that I have started. Anywho… without further ado, please go ahead and enjoy.**_

"_Why, hello there, Fai," Kyle smiled brightly, ignoring the look of alarm on the two females' faces at the blonde's reaction. "Or should I say, Yuui." _

_Sakura was paralyzed in place as realization dawned upon her._

Yuui.

Only hunters knew him by that name.

"Where is that little wolf of ours?" Kyle made a show of looking around him, as though searching for a lost pet.

"He's dead." Fai hissed venomously, golden eyes narrowing dangerously. "The backlash was too much for him to handle."

"Oh?" Kyle's brow shot up as he looked the blond over before thoughtfully tapping his chin.

"I think you are lying." He said softly, "same as you lied to these lovely ladies about who you are and what you used to be."

"Shut up." Fai whispered, shaking with barely suppressed rage.

"Oh, my. I seem to have touched a nerve." Kyle spoke in mock horror. "Really though, Flourite," he continued in a nonchalant manner, "I must say, gold isn't really your color, if you know what I mean. Your eyes almost make you look like a vampire. But it's no wonder you managed to avoid capture all this time." Lazily, he climbed to his feet. Sakura tried to follow, but for some reason, she found that she could not even twitch a muscle, "A pair of contacts was all it took? Well, that and the hunters assuming you have died by now. Just goes to show how stubborn a monster like you can be."

"Shut up!" The blond repeated but Kyle ignored him, turning his attention to Tomoyo.

Sakura felt her gut sink in dread as she realized that she wasn't the only one immobilized. Tomoyo was staring just as helplessly at the scene playing out before her.

"This man isn't all he appears to be," he said seriously, "but let's wait for your boyfriend to get here before going into the depth of _that_, shall we? In the meantime, Sakura, I'm really disappointed. I thought your brother would have taught you better than to accept treats from people you've only just met." he shook his head in mock discontent, "Now look where not following his advice has landed you."

"What the heck did you do, you bastard?" Fai growled as he clenched his fists by his sides.

"Seems like you've forgotten your place, Flourite," Kyle's expression seemed almost angry, staring right into Fai's eyes, "perhaps a small reminder would be better?"

Fai flinched, his arm moving to grip his left shoulder, but the blond did not back down as he glared at the man before him.

"Stubborn as ever," Kyle shook his head, managing to sound somewhat amused even though he was frowning angrily. "You have far outlived your usefulness, so you can join your worthless twin in the afterlife."

Fai grunted, his expression pained as he fell to his knees, the knuckles of his right hand turning white as his grip on his shoulder tightened. His eyes flickered between gold and a clear cerulean, finally settling on the latter as he swayed dangerously. Sakura tried to move to help the blond, but her limbs refused to obey that simple command.

A muffled scream escaped the pilot's lips and Sakura felt that mysterious pale blue aura flare all around him. But unlike what she had felt around the man for all the time she had known him, it was not weak. The magic felt strong enough to rival Sakura's. She saw a pale light the same shade as the aura emanate from Fai's shoulder as his body teetered precariously before he fell face-first on the floor.

Sakura had been able to sense the binding magic at work and had immediately understood what was going on. Fai, unlike what he had led everyone to believe all this time, was not an ordinary Mage. No, he was far from it.

Almost a minute passed by as he lay there, shaking, moaning so softly she could barely hear him as his shoulder continued to glow. Slowly the aura receded as the light faded away. She feared him dead, having somehow understood what had happened. Fai had Fei's seal and Kyle had somehow activated it. But to her surprise, he struggled and pushed himself off the ground on shaky arms, grinning crazily as Kyle.

"You can't kill me that easily," he hissed, blue eyes glaring fiercely at the man before him. "That bastard's seal isn't tied to my life anymore."

"But you're not completely free of its control, are you, Yuui?" Kyle answered coolly, though Sakura could see that he was slightly unnerved. He waved his hand in the air and Fai screamed, his arms giving out under him.

"Mage, what the heck is going on?" Sakura heard Kurogane yell as he stormed into the galley, Syaoran at his heels, looking scared and worried. They both froze at the sight that met their eyes.

"Ah, you must be Tomoyo's boyfriend." Kyle said pleasantly. "Kurogane, I presume?"

"Who the heck are you?" he growled, warily eyeing the knife currently pressing against his girlfriend's throat. Sakura vaguely wondered when Kyle had moved behind Tomoyo or drawn the knife.

"My name is Kyle Rondart," His eyes moved past Kurogane to Syaoran's chalk-white figure, who stood frozen in the doorway like he was a statue carved out of ice, "Hello, Syaoran."

The boy took a step back, eyes wide, his breath coming in short irregular pants.

"N-no…" he whimpered, shaking his head. Sakura had not seen him look this afraid since his encounter with those hunters back in Clow Bazaar.

"Now, now, little wolf, is that anyway to greet your old friend?" Kyle stated as though he was speaking to a four year old. Kurogane stepped protectively in front the amber-eyed boy, blocking him from the bespectacled man's line of sight as Syaoran seemed to shrink into himself in fear.

"What the hell do you want, you bastard?" Kurogane snarled dangerously.

"You seem like a smart man, Kurogane," Kyle said as though he had not heard the red-eyed man. "Look around you. Your pilot is out of commission, your girlfriend is currently my hostage, you passenger is incapacitated and your ward is too afraid to do anything to help you out here. One wrong move on your part can cost Tomoyo her life. Do you really want her blood on your hands?"

"What do you want?" The captain repeated, his voice shaking in anger.

"Not much, to tell you the truth," Kyle replied frankly, " but how about you get us out in space and get back here and I'll let you in on the deal, hmm?"

"You really don't have any choice in the matter, Kurogane." Kyle pointed out when the other man made no indication of obeying him. Shooting him a murderous glare, Kurogane turned on his heel, reaching out for Syaoran to take him along to the cockpit when Kyle spoke up again, "Oh, you can leave Xiao Lang here."

The chocolate haired teen was pressing himself pitifully against the wall, as though trying to sink into the metal itself, his pupils dilated in fear as he stared at Tomoyo's captor.

"He'll take me back…" he whimpered, staring at Kyle as though there was no one else present in the ship apart from the two. "He'll take me back…"

"We don't have all day, Kurogane." Kyle said, "Standing here all day long can tire me out, and my knife might just… slip." As he said the last word, his blade sliced across Tomoyo's creamy neck, drawing blood from a thin shallow cut. She bit her lip, refusing to show any fear, but still a muffled sound formed in her throat.

Clenching his fists, Kurogane stepped away from Syaoran, storming out of the galley.

"Your magic won't work right now, Sakura." Kyle informed her, somehow managing to tell that Sakura had been trying to summon her magic to their defense. "The chocolate was coated in a poison that acts as not only a paralyzing agent but also as an inhibitor."

"You're completely at my mercy, I'm afraid." The ship shuddered as the engines roared to life, the artificial gravity kicking in to hold everyone in place the vessel shot off into space. After several long minutes, Kurogane stepped back in the galley and Kyle smirked, seeing that the red-eyed man had chosen not to arm himself. That would have complicated things unnecessarily.

"Ah, now that we are all here," Kyle started happily, "how about you answer a question for me, Kurogane. Did you ever find out what happened to Syaoran all those years ago when he was taken from you and your fiancé?"

"How do you know about this?" he growled dangerously, narrowing his garnet eyes in response.

"Oh, I know all about our little wolf." The bespectacled man said fondly, a smirk playing across his lips as he gazed past the captain at the trembling figure of Syaoran. "In fact," he added, looking at Fai who was glaring at him venomously, "you should have asked _Yuui_ here, he knows about him just as much as I do."

"What?"

"But of course, how could I forget?" he gave a fake laugh, shaking his head in a disappointment. "He goes around here by the name of Fai."

"What the fuck are you going on about?"

"Perhaps it would be better if you see it with your own eyes." Kyle responded, drawing out a thin strip of paper with numerous symbols drawn on it in dark ink. The paper itself seemed yellow with age, the edges slightly frayed but it was intact otherwise. "But first," he grinned widely, his fingers tracing a small intricate pattern in the air. A beam of red light shot at Kurogane, a seal glowing on the man's forehead for a couple of seconds before sinking beneath his skin. "Just so you don't try anything funny till we're done." Kyle said, his hands already busy tracing the spell on the aged parchment as Sakura's world was plunged into darkness.

"_You do realize this is a top secret project," Sakura whirled around to see a slightly younger version of Kyle seated at the table of a rather rundown bar. Judging from the faint light being emitted from the tabletops that were placed around the settlement, she would have guessed the place to be Infinity. Only Infinity had the trend of using touchcoms in bars and such. Well, Infinity and one other planet in the multitude of inhabited systems. Somehow she knew this was not Infinity. Maybe the symbol of a crimson bat was what gave it away._

"_I know." The soft voice that replied to Kyle's question was one that she knew almost all too well by now._

"_So you know we won't be letting you in without a proper initiation." The bespectacled man pressed on._

"_I do." The blond sitting with his back towards Sakura responded, making Sakura's heart clench in dread. Was this a memory?_

"_Good," Kyle nodded, "that's good. Wouldn't want you complaining about not knowing what you were getting into later on, would we now?"_

"_Of course," Fai acquiesced, turning his head to the right to signal a barmaid over to their table for some drinks. Sakura took a step back in surprise, noticing how _blue_ his eyes were. They were the clearest shade of the sky on a warm, sunny day on Clow._

"_So you have no problem in submitting yourself to Lord Fei?"Kyle confirmed._

"_If that is what I must do," was all Fai said in response as he turned his head back to look at the younger version of Sakura's cousin._

_The memory flickered and shifted, turning to the scene of a wide, open courtyard. The sky was overcast with dark clouds, occasional flashes of lightning and the rolling thunder heralding an approaching storm._

"_Impressive, very impressive," the rough, gravelly voice of a heavyset man reached her ears. What the heck was it with the memories starting behind her back? She thought in exasperation as she spun around yet again to watch the scene unfold._

"_I'm glad you approve," Fai said politely, bowing a bit before the man. Straightening up, he began to carelessly dust his clothes. The courtyard itself seemed to have been decimated by magic. From what little she could actually still see standing, it appeared to be an obstacle course of some sort._

"_I do, you will make a fine servant," Lord Fei nodded, motioning for him to follow as he walked down out of the courtyard. Wanting to see what would happen next, Sakura followed. "Kyle, I would like to oversee his initiation myself."It was only when the Bat lord mentioned the bespectacled man's name did she notice his presence._

"_Of course, my Lord," Kyle bowed lowly._

"_I have some free time on my hands," Lord Fei spoke, looking over at Fai who had a pleasant smile plastered across his features. "Why not initiate Yuui here right now?"_

"_As you wish, my Lord."_

_The scene flickered and shifted once again. This time, though, it morphed into a place that gave Sakura a strong feeling of déjà vu. She had been here before._

_Here being a cold room, partially enshrouded in darkness. It was of a roughly rectangular shape with a raised metal platform in the middle. A young Syaoran, barely older than thirteen cycles at most, was strapped to the table._

_He was struggling rather violently, shouting angry threats at the three other men present in the room._

"_I did not know that the subject was just a child."Fai said, ignoring the boy's cries as he struggled to free himself._

"_Will that be a problem, Yuui?"Lord Fei questioned, a frown forming on his lips as he scrutinized the blond._

"_Of course not, my Lord." Fai… Yuui shook his head as he smiled apathetically. "I have no personal ties to the boy."_

"_Good," he grunted, "let's begin, then. You can start with the first part of the seal." He informed the blond, handing him a jagged-edged knife before motioning to the younger Syaoran strapped on the surgical table._

"_As you wish," Fai said politely before stepping forward, ignoring the way Syaoran's body tensed up as he approached the child. "Relax, little one." Fai said lightly, "this will only hurt for a little while." And before the boy could react in any manner at all, Fai had plunged the knifed into the chocolate-haired boy's forearm. As Syaoran screamed out, the scene flickered and the memory changed once more._

_Once the haze cleared away, Sakura realized that they were still in the same dungeon as before, but it was clearly a different time seeing as the boy strapped to the table was covered in copious amounts of blood, his wrists chaffed from where the bindings had cut into his skin. He was panting, only partially conscious of what was going on around him._

_A weak whimper escaped his lips as Kyle approached him with a needle, filled with some sort of black liquid that he carelessly injected into his jugular._

_Before the needle was even retracted from his body, the boy was screaming in pain, thrashing about wildly and tearing the skin off his flesh even more as his body convulsed violently. His head whipped from side to side as he screamed before he began to choke and gag on the thick haze that enveloped his body. _

_His struggles grew more frantic as he failed to draw in a proper breath, his back arching in vain as he tried to break free of the bonds that held him. But the more he tried, the thicker the haze grew. _

_Slowly, his flailing body relaxed, his movements growing sluggish as his lids began to droop. Then, all of a sudden, there was a brilliant flash of forest green and the thick, choking haze that surrounded him was pushed away by the pure aura._

_But it only took a couple of seconds before the choking haze began to seep into the aura that immediately retreated inside the boy's body before it could be polluted any further. _

_Sakura recalled seeing this all happen in a dream before, but at that time, she had not been able to get a good look at any of the other faces present in the room with her. But now, she could easily see the wild gleam in Kyle's eyes, the small smirk on Fei's lips and the apathetic look in Fai's stormy, ocean blue eyes. The first time she had seen those eyes, her mind had automatically connected them with Touya, but now? Now she knew that her brother wasn't even remotely involved with Syaoran's condition._

_It had been Fai all along. The lighting in the dungeon made his eyes appear darker than they actually were._

_Just as they started the cycle all over again, Sakura felt everything shift around her one final time._

She was back in the ship.

Looking around, she noticed that Tomoyo was openly crying, Kurogane was looking murderous, and Syaoran? Syaoran was curled in on himself, pressing himself against the wall as his entire body trembled in fear. Her heart went out to the amber-eyed teen but she knew there was nothing she could do in her current paralyzed state.

If only she had not accepted the chocolate from Kyle, she would have been able to help Syaoran now.

"I hope that was enough of an eye opener for you lot." Kyle grinned, ignoring the filthy look Fai shot at him, before the blond flinched, grabbing his shoulder so hard, Sakura could see it starting to stain red. "Your beloved pilot, _Fai_, is actually the notorious Yuui Valeria, the mage wanted in more than half the planets in the galaxy."

Sakura could distinctly recall the conversation she had had with said mage back on Clow, where he had vehemently refuted the idea of him being Yuui, creating a non-existant twin to pin the blame on. How could she have failed to see the signs? Even Chi had called him Yuui.

"_He… He took my twin. He wanted him for an experiment of sorts." _ She remembered him saying. _"I searched and searched for my brother, but by the time I got to him… It was too late."_

She had just seen Fai willingly enter the service of _that_ man. How could she trust anything he had told her before? His request for her to keep quiet about Syaoran's tattoo should have been more than a clue for her. He had obviously been trying to save his own neck by tricking her into not telling Syaoran's guardians about it.

And she had gone along with it!

"I'd stay and chat with you all some more," the grey-eyed man said airily as he pocketed his knife and approached Syaoran, "but I have to take our precious little wolf back to his master now."

"N-no…" the teen whimpered pathetically, as Sakura felt his choking aura begin to surface. She inwardly grinned a grim grin. This was probably the one time she was glad about Syaoran having that tattoo. If anyone could save them now, it would be Syaoran's alter ego. "Don't want to… ungh… go back…" he gripped his forearm, as though in immense pain.

The forest green aura flared out around him visibly as he clutched his arm to his chest, a pained scream issuing from his lips as he scrunched up his eyes. He seemed to be resisting the effects of the tattoo just like he had been back in Clow. But why? Why would he want to not change when that was the only chance to save his friends? The aura was moving around his erratically as he shook his head, the same words tumbling out of his lips again and again.

"You shouldn't resist your nature, Xiaolang," Kyle cooed as he squatted next to the struggling boy. Why wasn't his aura lashing out at Kyle like it had with those hunters?

"Stay… the fuck… away from him!" Fai snarled angrily from where he lay on the floor.

"There isn't anything you can do to stop me, Valeria," Kyle responded dryly as his gazed moved past him towards Sakura, "don't worry, cousin dearest, I haven't forgotten about you either. The pretty little lethal Cherry Blossom. Lord Fei would be pleased to see you again as well."

Unable to talk, the only way for her to express her shock was through her face.

"In a minute, Sakura, in a minute." Was all Kyle said as he drew another seal from his pocket, proceeding to press it against Syaoran's pale, clammy skin. The runes glowed cerulean blue for a fraction of a second before sinking into his flesh. Sakura recognized the magical signature, her eyes darting to Fai who was staring at Syaoran and Kyle in horror.

"I had managed to nick a few of your seals prior to your defection," Kyle grinned as Syaoran screamed his loudest yet before falling completely limp. "Even if you managed to suppress the seal for all these years, your magic isn't strong enough to rival Lord Fei's anymore."

"I… might not be… strong enough… to rival his magic," Fai gritted out as he pushed himself into a half kneeling position as Sakura felt him dreg up his reserve of magic previously being used to counter the effects of the seal. "But… I won't let… that bastard… have them both!" Faster than even Sakura could comprehend, a spell was shot in her direction, the cerulean runes burning her skin wherever they touched her as they spun around her in a crazy circle.

"No!" she heard Kyle snarl in the distance as Fai's words reached her ears as well, "I'm still strong enough to undo the memory seal placed on her by my brother."

That was the last thing she could comprehend before her world turned to darkness once more. This time, however, she knew she was not being plunged into another memory but merely losing her consciousness.

_**A/N: Okay, how many of you expected that to happen? **_

_**I hope this chapter cleared up all the questions related to what had happened to Syaoran. If not, feel free to ask so that I might be able to address them in the coming chapters. We're almost at the end of this story. I think there may be a maximum of five to six chapters before the end if things keep on going at the current rate. So send my your questions and queries before then.**_

_**Till next time.**_

_**-Nims.**_


	31. HerStory

_**A/N: Hello everyone! I'm back with another chapter for this story. I'm really sorry for the extra long wait but my excuse is still the same. It's really hard trying to find time to write stuff with my current schedule and all so I had to write it in bits and pieces. But it's a Saturday and Saturdays are update days so I figured I ought to put this up now. Lucky for you guys, this chapter is over 6000 words long so that ought to make up for my absence, no?**_

_**Note: Please ignore the grammatical errors in this thing since I neither have the energy nor the time to go through it all and correct everything on my own and my Beta is currently pretty busy herself so I'll just replace this chapter with its edited version later on when she's free to look it over for me.**_

_**Anywho, enjoy! And don't forget to leave a review at the end.**_

_She was falling through the darkness, moving at the speed of light, blinding flashes of light and a violent cacophony of voices surrounded her. She could not feel her limbs or even her body and then all of sudden everything came to a jarring halt before she was thrust forward once again. _

"_The files documents that you are searching for are in one of the mainframes of the Batlord's Koryo facility." The voice came to her like the speaker was located at the end of a long tunnel but as she spoke, the words grew clearer and the darkness around her began to gave way as the hazy outline of a room began to take shape._

"_Are you sure about this Chii?" the voice that replied, issued from her own mouth. Soon enough her surroundings grew clear and she realized she was standing in Chii's office. She looked at the glass tabletop of the blonde's work desk and noticed that the date and time being displayed by the holotock was that of a month earlier._

_That was when Chii had first informed her about the files about Project Tsubasa and the events following that had led up to her running into Kurogane. She was viewing her memory._

"_I'm one hundred percent positive." Her friend nodded, "this place definitely has the info you need."_

"_I don't have any jobs scheduled for now, do I?" she questioned, the anticipation clear as crystal in her voice._

"_No," Chii smiled, seeing the spark of excitement in her friend's normally cold eyes, "Chunhyang's taken over your spot for now so you're all set to go."_

_Her own response grew muffled as Sakura's surrounding shifted and she was thrust forward once more. _

"_The seal has been modified from the standard seals placed on the Mages that work under Fei's command," she heard a serene voice and immediately recognized it as her employer's. The wine-eyed woman was moved around her as Sakura pushed the sleeve of her shirt back into place. The witch had just finished inspecting the unusual seal on her shoulder._

"_Can you remove it?" she asked softly as though afraid to hope for anything._

"_I can't." Yuuko replied in a curt manner and Sakura's face fell, "however, I might be able to design a seal to suppress the effects of this one."_

"_But there is a price for it, isn't there?" Sakura asked dejectedly as she began to climb to her feet. She was lucky to have been able to meet with her in the first place, Yuuko was after all, the hidden ruler of Infinity and not everyone was able to get an audience with the legendry witch._

"_Of course." Yuuko responded as she gracefully sat down on the low backed settee in front of Sakura._

"_I see. Thanks for your time, Miss Ichihara," Sakura said, bowing respectfully before the woman, "I suppose I shall be leaving now."_

"_And why do you think that?" the woman asked, sounding amused._

"_Because I don't have any money to offer in exchange." She replied quietly._

"_So?"_

"_So I won't be able to pay."_

"_You won't be able to pay, child?" Yuuko threw her head back and laughed loudly. "Of course you will be able to pay." She sobered up, looking her in the eye, "I don't accept money for my services any way."_

"_Really?" the younger version of Sakura brightened up immediately._

"_I can create a seal for you but you will have to work for me until the time you can find what you are looking for." Yuuko nodded calmly, "Of course, you will be given time to research and have resources at your disposal to do so."_

"_Umm… Miss Ichihara-"_

"_Yuuko, you can call me Yuuko."_

"_Okay, umm… Miss Ich- Yuuko, I'm very grateful that you have chosen to help me out but…"_

"_But you're not sure why I chose to do so." The woman before her nodded in an understanding manner, "It's a good trait." She approved with a smile, "questioning people's motives and not blindly trusting them. I can see now that you will be an excellent employee."_

"_Thank you Miss I- Uh… Yuuko, but you didn't answer my question."_

"_I didn't."_

"_So?"_

"_So what?" Yuuko quirked a brow._

"_So why are you helping me?" _

"_I have several reasons," the witch responded, "a few of them are personal and a few I am not allowed to disclose so don't ask, but what I _can_ tell you is that you possess the sort of potential I am looking for in an employee. Plus you came here as a reference of Lord Ashura's ward. I am obligated to help anyone that child would send to me."_

_Sakura opened her mouth to ask something but then thought better of it and complied by simply nodding._

"_So you accept the deal?" the wine-eyed woman questioned. Receiving another nod, she smiled, "Very well then. I will get started on the counter seal while Yuzuriha here will help you settle in."_

_A younger version of one of her closest friends bounded up to Sakura just as the room faded away in smoke and Sakura lurched forwards once more._

_She was running, tripping over her feet, the darkness reaching out with icy hands trying to grab her as she stumbled but she refused to give in, managing to start running once again. She could hear voices in the distance, people yelling, chasing after her. Her shoulder burned as though acid was being poured over it, eating skin, muscles and bone alike. _

_The pain was impossible to bear yet she tried not to scream, knowing that the men following her would be able to find her quicker that way. Biting her lip to muffle a cry as her shoulder throbbed with an intensity of a thousand suns, she tripped over her feet. The tangy taste of blood filled her mouth but for some reason that did not disturb her much. She had been injured worse than this before. Not caring to climb to her feet again, she began crawling forward, not caring as the thorns of the bushes she had fallen into scratched her arms and face and legs. Her filthy dress caught in the branches of one of the bushes, halting her with a sharp jerk. And not a moment too soon, she heard the voices of her pursuers speak from somewhere nearby._

"_Damn it! Where the heck did she go?" an angry voice yelled and she held her breath in fear. Her heart was beating a mile a minute and she knew they would be able to find her in only a few seconds time. _

"_She must have run into the woods," another voice replied._

"_You three," the first voice barked almost making her jump, "summon a few sniffers and look for her in the forest. Lord Fei won't be pleased if something were to happen to his pet."_

_She heard the sound of feet running away from where she was but she decided to stay still for the time being. And it was a good thing she did for a couple of seconds later, the second man's voice spoke up again._

"_Damn that bastard Flourite. If it weren't for him, we wouldn't have to be chasing that snot nosed brat out here in the wilderness."_

"_That snot nosed brat can kick your ass worse than a Bohairian Dragon," a third voice joined in. Sakura shrank in on herself in fear. Even though she couldn't recall who this Flourite person might have been she knew the owner of the third voice. "So it would be best if you shut your trap and go look for her _before _she gets any ideas."_

"_M-Master Rondart!" the first two voices exclaimed._

"_Don't just stand here you idiots." Master Rondart snarled angrily, "Go and look for her! We have invested far too many resources to find the perfect subject to let that righteous bastard ruin everything now… why the fuck are you two still here? Go!"_

"_Yes Master Rondart."_

"_You have been a very naughty girl, Cherry Blossom." His cold tone made an involuntary shiver run down her spine, she could not let this man find her. She had to get away from this planet as soon as possible. She had to get to Infinity and find that witch, Yuuko Ichihara. That nice blond man who had helped her escape had told her she'd be able to help her. "Master is most displeased with your behavior."_

_She remained still as a statue, holding her breath even as Rondart began to move away from where she was hiding. But it wasn't almost a minute after she heard his footsteps fade away that she dared to hurriedly freed her clothes from the bush. The man that had helped her, he had told her about the ship leaving port that very day. Keeping that in mind, she began crawling in the dark towards the floodlights pooling around the spaceport, however, just as soon as she was clear of the bushes, she climbed on her feet, fully intent on sneaking onboard the ship but a man's had clamping hard on her burning shoulder made her cry out in pain._

"_Oh no you brat, you're coming back to the base."_

"_No! Lemme go!" acting on pure instinct, she flicked her hand, gripping the hilt of the knife as it slid into her palm. Twisting under her captor's hand, she spun around, stabbing it straight through her assailant's throat, wrenching it free and trying not to shudder as the man fell to his knees with a choked gurgle before collapsing on his side, bleeding to his death. She had to get onboard before they found the man's body. Slipping the blood coated blade back into the pocket inside her shirt sleeve, she raced behind one of the many crates piled in the docking area. As she crouched behind ametal box containing the shipment of some custom made weapons, her surrounding began to fade away once more. _

"_We don't have a lot of time," the man holding her hand breathed quietly as he pulled her along a complex maze of narrow corridors and winding hallways. "I have modified the seal so that bastard doesn't have control over you anymore hime-sama but I apologize once again. I cannot remove it completely without killing you." Then abruptly turning he pulled her into a dark niche in one the corridor they were walking through as a couple of guards turned round the corner and marched past their hiding place._

"_I'm scared…" she whispered when the men had turned around the other corner. "Can't you come with me?"_

"_I'm sorry hime-sama," he turned around, crouching down to her level as he gazed into her eyes with sad sky-blue orbs the appeared darker in shade due to the lack of light in the place where they were. "I wish I could but if I leave with you, they'll know that you have escaped before you even reach the perimeter of this facility."_

"_But you're my friend, I can't just…"_

"_I'll cover for you from here." he reassured her with a gentle smile, ruffling her hair. "You just get yourself to the docks." He said touching her forehead and she felt a soothing pale blue aura envelop her for a fraction of a second as images flooded her mind. I was a comforting feeling but sooner than she would have liked, he had removed his hand and she was left feeling alone once more. "Stowaway on the ship that's leaving port and get to Infinity, once there, ask around for a witch by the name of Yuuko Ichihara." He told her as he once again navigated through the hallways, towing her along._

"_What about you? Will you find me there?" she asked, running a couple of steps behind him with her hand clasped tightly around his. He did not answer as he cast a spell on the guard standing near the main entrance to the facility. She had only passed through here once before in her life and that had been a couple of weeks earlier with her Master- no, that man was _not _her Master, she belonged to no one. She had passed through here a couple of weeks earlier with _that_ man as he had her fight against those prisoners as a part of her final evaluation. The guards were only a part of the security implemented at this part of the facility but apparently the blond leading her along had already thought of that. _

_The lights around them flickered as blue runes followed the path of his fingers before shooting off in all directions. Less than a second later, they were plunged in pitch blackness. They were right before the perimeter fence by the time the men inside began sounding the alarms._

"_You can still come with me. I don't want to go alone."_

"_I'll distract them long enough for you to escape, hime-sama." He shook his head, messy blond hair flying every which way on the action, "If I can get out of this place later on, I'll come find you."_

"_Why do you call me that?" she asked softly. "Hime-sama. What does it mean?"_

"_Because that's what you are," the blond replied, "…my princess."_

"_If you don't find me in a week," she narrowed her eyes in determination, "I'll come back here to get you."_

"_I'm sorry hime-sama," he apologized softly before pressing the tips of his fingers against her temple. Once more the blue aura enveloped her mind like a sheet of cool, soothing silk or perhaps a warm fuzzy blanket. It was hard to distinguish as between the feeling rushing through her blood, "But you can't come back here. I am not someone important enough for you to risk you freedom." She could hear the words but they sounded far away. It was hard to concentrate on what was going around her. "I'm not even important enough for you to remember me for long." The words washed over her, refusing to let her thoughts form completely in her mind, "I regret everything I did to you but now you a chance to find what that bastard forced me to take from you."_

"_What do you mean?" she breathed, feeling lightheaded as she felt parts of her memory slip from her mind. "What are you doing?"_

"_I'm righting the wrongs." He replied in a tone that was painted with guilt. "Get to the space station and don't let anyone find you." He told her slipping something cool and metallic into her hands. She looked down and realized that it was a pair of flick blades. The hilts were adorned with small pieces of sapphires in a pattern that reminded her of a phoenix. "Yuuko Ichihara. That's the name of the witch who can help you, understand? Find her on Infinity. Tell her you're there on the behalf of Lord Ashura's ward."_

"_But what about-"_

"_I can handle myself, hime-sama," he smiled at her gently, patting her on the top of her head just as the power came back online inside the facility. "We have wasted enough time as it is." He said urgently, pushing her towards the fence, "Go! I'll hold them off for as long as I can."_

"_But-"_

"_Good luck. I hope you can find what you lost." And then he was gone. Sakura tracked the path he had taken to reach facility for a couple of seconds longer before snapping into action at the sound of a loud explosion. Tucking the knives into the small pockets made inside her sleeves, she expertly climbed over the fence, using magic to shield herself from the electricity that might have otherwise killed her. Landing in a graceful crouch on the other side, she look back towards the ominous looking structure that loomed in the distance before turning her back towards it._

"_I hope that nice man makes it out okay." She mumbled to herself, before breaking out into a sprint in the direction she knew the spaceport to be._

_The scene shifted around her and the night turned to day just as she spun around, bringing her leg around in a high spinning kick before launching the throwing knives she had in her hands. The pained screams told her that her weapons had met their marks. Landing in a crouch, she narrowed her eyes at the four men advancing towards her from both sides. Waiting till the last minute, she rolled out of the way as a pair of broadswords slashed at the spot where she had been not a nano-second earlier. She ducked under the punched aimed for her face, flipping away from the third man as he thrust a spear at her. She reached out with her right hand and swiped at the attacker's neck, landing gracefully as the other slid to the ground with pour gushing out of his injury. The fourth man swung a club at her while the sword wielder brought his swords around in an arc to slice off her head. Without even blinking, she spun around, flying right through the gap in the two swords, stabbing the man in the face with her knife before kicking off his shoulder to get higher in the air. Only two men were left._

_The club wielder swung his club at her but before it could hit its mark, with all the grace of a deadly panther, she moved under his guard before kicking off into the air to get to in level with his face. She didn't even blink as the blood from her latest victim sprayed her face in a fountain of burning crimson. Not wasting time to wipe the liquid away from her face, she swung her left arm in a wide arc, letting the knife fly. The dull thud let her know that like always, it had met its mark._

"_Excellent work Blossom," she straightened up at the sound of the voice, turning around to look at the speaker, "I can see you have improved greatly."_

"_Thank you, Master." She bowed low, keeping her eyes trained on the ground as she straightened. Her tone was bared of all emotions, sounding hollow, dead, almost… robotic._

"_I am impressed by your improvement." The man before her said approvingly. "Kyle, remind me to give some time off to our hardworking Mage as well. After all, if it weren't for him, our Blossom here would not have come such a long way from the weakling she was."_

"_I am glad that I was able to please you Master." She spoke but there was no joy in her tone. It was still empty of all feeling, like a barren, desolate graveyard, devoid of life._

"_You have passed your evaluation for now," her Master sounded pleased, "Kyle, bring me the statistics as soon as you are done with them. I wish to send her out as soon as possible."_

"_As you wish, Master." She didn't have to look up to link that voice to Master Rondart's._

"_You can take her to Flourite for her session now." Master said dismissively as he turned around and left._

"_Blossom," Master Rondart barked, "let's go."_

"_Yes Master Rondart." She responded mechanically as she hastened to obey. The guards standing at the gates of the facility didn't even bother to cast a second glance in her direction as she followed behind Kyle, leaving a trail of dripping blood, none of it belonging to herself. The scene shifted once more as the soft drip, drip of crimson liquid crashing on the cold stone floor began sounding like it was coming from a tunnel._

_She was moving through the darkness for quite long this time as memories kept on rushing through her head, voices overlapping each other yet she continued recalling it all like she had never forgotten what she had went through in the first place._

_As she was thrust into her body once more, she realized that it was on fire. Not literally but it felt as though hot bubbling lava was being poured on her from all sides as her insides were simultaneously being turned to ice._

"_Stop! Please! It hurts!" she cried out, trying to move her hand to clutch at her shoulder only to find she couldn't move it._

"_Shut it, Brat!" a rough hand smacked her across the face, making her almost pass out before a cold voice reached her ears._

"_Don't touch her while I'm working," the person said, "or do you wish to explain to your Master why the seal isn't working how it's supposed to?"_

"_Stop being a smartass and keep working Mage." Another voice, probably the owner of the rough hand sneered carelessly, "Master Fei doesn't care about the likes of you so shut up before I snap that puny neck of yours."_

"_Oh?" the person addressed as Mage responded coolly as the burning began to recede. "Then why am _I_ the one working on the subject? Return to your post outside the cell before _I_ throw your worthless mass out myself. And don't bother to interrupt me again, understand?"_

_Sakura cracked her eyes open blearily only to see a gigantic man glare venomously at the owner of the cold voice before huffing angrily. Turning on his heels, the giant stomped out the door. Heaving a sigh, the Mage shook his head before looking down at her with apologetic, ocean blue eyes. But she knew their original color was much lighter. Like the sky._

"_I'm really sorry, Hime-sama," the blond apologized, "but I need to finish what we started or else you will have to bear double the amount of pain tomorrow." Then, without waiting for a reply, the man put his hands against her shoulder and she felt a soothing aura run through her whole body for a couple of seconds before it began to grow uncomfortable once more. Tears streamed freely down her cheeks as she bit her lip in an attempt not to cry out but she ended up screaming anyways as it grew unbearable._

"_Stop it! Please!" she begged, thrashing wildly against her binds but to no avail. A few minutes later, the blond sighed, removing his hands once more._

"_You know," he said so softly she thought she had merely imagined the sound over her own ragged pants but quickly learnt that that was not the case when he continued. "There is a way for the pain to stop but…"_

"_Please, anything, do it, just make it stop." She cried brokenly._

_The tips of his fingers touched her temple and she felt his aura flood her mind, sinking into every nook and cranny, rearranging her thought patterns and memories as it saw fit until…_

"…_but you won't be able to fee anything else either." He finished in a morose tone, but funnily enough, Sakura felt no sympathy towards him. She did not pity this man, nor did she feel angry at him for doing this to her. In fact, now that she thought about it, she could feel… nothing._

_Every swirled away in smoky wisps as she began zooming through the darkness._

_She was curled up into a protective ball next to the bed, trying to hide behind its bare frame in hope of deterring her captors. The door to the room she was in unlocked with a loud hiss before they metal slid apart to reveal a blond man, dressed in a simple button down dress shirt and black pants._

"_You did great at the training today, hime-sama." He smiled encouragingly at her as he settled on the floor next to her. She shivered at the close proximity and the blond seemed to pick up on it as his smile fell and he moved away from her. "I know no amount of apologies would even begin to make up for all that I have been doing to you this past cycle," he spoke in a quiet tone after a while, "but I really have no choice in the matter. It's either _I_ help that bastard or he drags my brother into it all."_

"…_you have a brother?" she asked in silent wonder despite herself._

"_Yes." He nodded, pulling something out of his pocket to show her. It appeared to be a photograph of him and another him, "A younger twin. He's a really strong Mage. Probably a whole lot stronger than me but Fei doesn't know that. And I want to keep it that way." He told her, pocketing the small picture._

"_Why?"_

"_Because he's my little brother." He replied, closing his eyes as he rested his head against the stone wall. She didn't reply to that and minutes ticked by in silence but her thoughts were rushing, turning and tumbling over one another._

"_I wonder what it's like…" she finally broke it, "having a brother to protect you. It must be nice… If I had a brother, do you think he would take me away from here?" she sounded hopeful as she turned her head to face him._

_He cracked an eye open, "I'm sure he'd be doing everything within his power to get you back."_

_And then she was zooming through the blankness once more, the cacophony of sounds washing over her, drowning her, suffocating her. This time she found out that she was chained to a wall, when she was thrust back into a memory after a long while._

_The room was cold, damp and dark, with water dripping to the floor somewhere nearby. She was scared. She didn't know where she was but she knew Touya would be worried sick about her. And he had every right to be. He had always told her to be careful when going to the bazaar but she never listened. Now she was paying the price. As her turbulent mind came up various scenarios, each more bizarre than the last, to explain what would happen to her she began to cry softly. She wanted her Nii-san to find her._

_She didn't want to be turned into a toast by hungry savages or… or be hacked to pieces and used to make kebabs or be turned into a fat slave monster or be cooked over a pit to be eaten by Kaijuu-eaters or… or even be killed to turn her skull into an embellished drinking mug. She just wanted to go home to her brother. Quiet footsteps approached her and she shrank in on herself hoping that maybe the wall behind her would swallow her before whoever it was could use her blood to make Ygiwo sauce. A man stepped into her view but his remained obscure by the darkness._

"_This is her?" he asked softly._

"_Yes," a heavy, gravelly voice answered, its tone colored with a twisted sort of pleasure and she knew _he_ was the one who'd turn her into bacon strips to eat for breakfast._

"_But she's so young." The man standing in front of protested weakly._

"_That doesn't matter." The owner of the heavy voice laughed in a dismissive manner and the man in her line of vision cringed slightly, "The younger, the better I say." His laughter boomed around her, bouncing off of the walls and echoing heavily, making her even more scared than she already was. This was it, they were going to kill her. "You have dallied enough." The heavy voice stopped laughing abruptly, taking on a harsher tone. "Now start working or you know what the consequences will be."_

_The man standing before her fisted his hands, shaking in silent rage, but stepped closer to her anyways._

"_Please," she sobbed, the sound echoing off the walls in a manner similar to the other man's laughter, "Let me go." Unable to look at her kidnappers and soon to be killers faces, she lowered her head, the wet tears trailing down her cheeks in a scalding trail._

"_I'm sorry it had to be this way," he apologized, bringing his hands closer to her temples as he forced her to lock her gaze with his own. His eyes, the color of a stormy, blue ocean, were the only distinguishable feature of his face as a foreign, azure aura entered her mind. It slipped through the weak shields she had put up around it to protect herself from completely breaking down. The aura began to fill up her whole being completely, overwhelming her, forcefully removing parts of memory as it began to modify the rest, molding it, morphing it._

"_No…" she struggled weakly, feeling the faces of her Nii-san and his best friend, her Okaa-san and Otou-san fading from her memory, fast. "N-Nii-san…" she breathed trying to reach out to the fleeting memory but found the aura blocking her path. "Nii-san… N-Nii-san…" she kept mumbling, over and over again but she couldn't understand what that word meant._

_Her surroundings shifted yet again but the transition was a short one. She figured the duration of the transition was an indicator of how far back in her memories she was travelling._

_She was walking down the familiar looking streets of Clow Bazaar, looking around at the merchandize being sold by various stall owners. She stopped at a stall owned by an old man who sold lobster-apples. He always gave one to her for free. Smiling widely, she greeted the old man who returned the gesture in kind before reaching into the pile of his handed her a blue-colored fruit and her grin widened. Thanking him brightly, she skipped along on her way, stopping only once she reached the town square. Turning around she stared at the beautiful stone castle visible in the distance. Black banners emblazoned with the insignia of a red bat hung from every balcony and terrace. The smile left her face as she stared at it longingly remembering the time when the banners used to be a beautiful shade of blue and adorned with the coat of arms of the Clow Royal family. Heaving a sigh, she shook her head and looked way. As the sun almost kissing the horizon, lowering behind the buildings of the town, she realized how late it was getting as she started walking again. _

_As the darkness spread out more and more, her fear began to increase. She hastened her footsteps as her eyes darted all around her, feeling the invisible eyes of monsters staring out at her from every dark corner. Gripping the blue-colored fruit more firmly in her hand, she broke out into a jog, blood pounding in her ears. Something felt awfully wrong. _

_She slowed down when her house became visible in the distance. She could see Touya in the backyard, sparring with Yukito-san. She breathed a sigh of relief. She was safe now. She opened her mouth to call out a greeting to the two boys just as a large hand slammed over her mouth, pulling her into the shadows of one the collapsed buildings._

_She struggled against her captor when something sharp pricked the skin of her neck and she felt her lids grow heavier. Her limbs felt like they were filled with lead and her head felt like it was shoved underwater. _

"_Tou-ya…" The lobster-apple slipped from her hand and rolled out into the street as her world grew dark. She knew she had just witnessed her kidnapping as the darkness rushed by her and she found herself in the living room of the small house those hunters- no, her brother and his best friend had occupied along with her._

"_Here you go Sakura-chan," Yukito smiled as he set down a plate of buttered toast on the table, along with a jug full of Orangaton juice just as Touya entered the room, pulling on his shirt._

"_Arigato, Yukito-san," she beamed brightly as she loaded her plate with toast and filled a glass with the rust colored juice. In less than a minute, she had wiped her plate clean, washing the toast down with the chilled juice before beaming at the grey-eyed teen._

"_Whoa there, Kaijuu!" Touya yelled, acting surprised as he took a few steps back and bumped into the door behind him, "Keep eating at that rate and Clow will be facing a famine."_

"_Nii-saaannn…" she whined indignantly, "I don't eat that much! And I'm NOT a Kaijuu!"_

"_All right, all right." Touya laughed, holding his hands up in a placating gesture. He bid Yukito a good morning and sat down in the chair opposite to her. She glared at him suspiciously before stomped hard on his foot to make sure he didn't call her names._

"_Ow! That hurt!" her brother retorted, flinching visibly as her glare intensified, daring him to say any further._

_When he did not call anymore names however her scowl transformed into a bright smile that she directed at Yukito. Climbing to her feet, she grabbed her hoverboard from the spot where it leaned against the sofa and raced towards the exit to the house._

"_You're a fat, little, kawaii Kaijuu!" His voice called after her just as Sakura was about to close the door._

"_I am not a Kaijuu!" she yelled angrily as she heard her brother's laughter ring inside the house. Dropping the board to the ground, she hopped on, shooting off in the direction of Clow._

_The memory shifted again as she ducked under the incoming fist and jumped to the side. The dark-haired boy spun around, bringing his leg along for a kick but she managed to get out of the way, a little clumsily._

"_Don't think I didn't see that. You're getting fat, Kaijuu," the teen grinned as he continued his attack._

"_Nii-san, I'm not a Kaijuu!" she stomped angrily, forgetting to block the incoming punch that left her winded as she fell on her butt._

"_So says the Kaijuu who can't even fight." The blue-eyed boy laughed, "One of these days, the fat Kaijuu will get caught by some big, bad hunters and it will be up to me to save the day."_

"_I can too fight!" she said indignantly as she stood up and brushed off her clothes._

"_Not like that you can't," he ruffled her hair and she ducked out from under his hand, frowning at him as she hastily tried to arrange her hair._

"_Touya, you shouldn't tease her so much," Yukito admonished her brother as he walked out from the house with a jug of lemonade and three tumblers made out of rough glass._

"_Lemonade!" she squealed in delight, forgetting all about the training as she ran across the dusty ground and grabbed a tumbler._

"_Yuki," her brother almost whined as he loosened his stance._

"_You've been at it since morning." Yukito responded with a smile as he filled up Sakura's glass, "Take a break, alright?"_

_Again and again she was jerked out of her memories only to be thrown back in harshly. She did not know for how long she was viewing her past but she knew it must be coming to an end as she was pushed through the darkness for a long time before being thrust into the body a child._

_She was lying in bed as a beautiful woman tucked her in bed, kissing her on the forehead lovingly._

"_Kaa-san?" she heard her quiet voice speak as the woman withdrew. _

"_Yes?" emerald eyes very much like her own gazed at her with a soft smile._

"_Kaa-san, why was Tou-san so worried today?" she asked, worrying her lower lip anxiously._

"_Some bad people want to take away the good magicians from our world." The woman, reached out with her hand to gently brush aside Sakura's hair from her face. _

_As the scene unfolded before her eyes, she felt an overwhelming rush of emotions well up inside her chest. She finally remembered her mother._

_**A/N: So Sakura finally regained her memories. I hope you guys could figure out the order of events but if you couldn't, I'll let you know that she was remembering in reverse order. As in the things that happened recently were the ones that she remembered first. **_

_**Anyhow, if you have any questions about her past, feel free to ask since I'm pretty much done covering it myself, but I might have missed something in which case let me know and I'll mention it somewhere in the coming chapter since after that, things are going to get fast paced. **_

_**The end is near. At the rate things are going might just have five or six chapters left to go. ^_^**_


	32. Little Dragon no more

_**A/N: Exam week is here again but me being the procrastinator that I am wrote this little piece here for your enjoyment so you guys better be grateful. :P**_

"Touya, please, calm down."

"Calm down? _Calm down,_ Yuki?" Touya whirled around angrily, "You saw the fucking files! How the heck can I calm down after…" heaving a sigh, he slumped on the chair next to him, "after knowing what she's been through."

"I'm the one who hacked into the databases, Touya," Yukito answered soothingly, "of course I know what happened to her. But you have to remember, it happened years ago. She's merely confused now."

"Confused and lost," Touya gave a bitter laugh as he stared out the viewing pane of the small spaceship they were in, "searching for her past."

"Well, when we find her, we can help her remember, can't we now?" Yukito smiled encouragingly at his friend. "And look, the tracker you left onboard says _Little Dragon_ is only a few parsecs away."

"How would she react to seeing me again?" Touya wondered quietly, staring down at his hands. "Last time she threatened to kill me." Yukito wisely kept his mouth shut, understanding the state of mind his friend was in. "And she kept choosing that… that _gaki_ over me." Touya spat, running a hand through his hair in frustration as he glared outside. Yukito couldn't help but smile slightly. Trust Touya to be angry over something like that. "And that red-eyed basta- what in the world?" the blue-eyed man growled, narrowing his eyes as he squinted at something in the distance before his face grew pale. "Yukito, are we in viewing distance of _Little Dragon_?" He asked quickly, shooting a look at the bespectacled hunter who consulted one of the many panels lighting up the right side of the ship's cockpit.

"Yes, it should be visible by now." He nodded, looking outside in the direction Touya had been staring in previously, "Did you spot it?"

The hunter chose not to respond as he took control of the ship and shot off in that direction. In the distance, the wreckage of a half destroyed ship was visible.

-0-

Touya's heart was pounding wildly inside his chest as he boarded the ship with his best friend, sword drawn, ready to fend off any ambushers. What had happened after he left? The ship's engines were clearly destroyed, and so was half the cargo bay. The boarding hatch thankfully seemed to be functioning properly but the access point to the rest of the ship seemed to have been sealed via airlock. Nothing could get in or out of there.

Unless they happened to have a genius hacker for a friend.

"And… We're good to go." Yukito announced in slightly grim tone as he stepped away from the lock control mounted on the wall next to the sealing hatch. "This will hold up for about fifteen minutes so we have to get Sakura and get out of here in that time, as fast as we can. My palmtop picked up on the bugs in the ship's mainframe, and trust me when I say this: we don't want to be anywhere near this thing when it blows up."

Touya had already raced down the narrow corridor. He had gotten a general idea of the layout of the ship when he had been escaping during the small rebellion they had planned against that bastard, Ryanban, so he decided to check out the cabin area first, his senses on high alert for anything unusual. The fact that the ship his sister had been travelling on was half destroyed and practically stranded in the middle of nowhere like an open target for pirates and space rogues did not sit well with the hunter. When he found the piece of shit that dared do this to his sister, he would make that bastard regret the day he was born. Oh yeah, there would be hell to pay.

"Kurogane!" the alarmed cry made him freeze, causing Yukito to almost crash into him.

"Get out of the way, I'm going to kill this bastard!" He heard the red-eyed man roar from somewhere up ahead and he took off in that direction, not even giving Yukito a chance to ask whatever it was that the bespectacled man had opened his mouth to question him about.

The sight that greeted his eyes as soon as he reached the entrance to the ship's galley was something he had not expected to see, even in his wildest of dreams. The blond pilot, Fei? Fai? was on the ground in a pale, blood-drenched heap, the beautiful, lavender eyed medic, Tomoyo, standing in front of him with her arms outstretched as she looked up at the ship's captain pleadingly. Said captain was glaring at the pilot on the floor with such ferocity that if looks could have killed, that man would have been burnt and eradicated a thousand times over. In his hand was a katana, poised, ready to strike the blond, but only staying in its place because of the female protecting him from the captain's wrath.

Tearing his eyes away from those three, he quickly scanned the rest of the galley. They had not yet noticed his arrival, so he still had a chance to spot Sakura and get her out of here without them knowing. He could sense remnants of what appeared to have been a rather powerful teleportation spell, mixed in with something he couldn't quite identify. He looked around one more time to make sure he wasn't overlooking something, but his beloved baby sister was not there. Come to think of it, neither was that annoying gaki, but he didn't care about the brat. He just needed to find Sakura.

"Kurogane, please." Tomoyo's pleading brought his attention back to the trio in the middle of the galley.

"Tomoyo, step aside," the red-eyed captain growled fiercely.

"But-"

"Where the heck is she?" Touya cut in on the medic's protests. They could continue with this soap opera once he had found his sister.

"T-Touya?"

"You." Kurogane's fierce glare redirected itself towards him.

"Where is she?" Touya growled back, not caring if he had to fight the red-eyed bastard to find her. He was getting Sakura away from here. He wasn't going to lose her again. "Where is my Sakura?"

"Touya, five minutes." Yukito warned quietly, from behind him.

"She's not here." Tomoyo whispered regretfully as she stared at him.

"What? Where is she then? Where the heck did you send her?" Touya inquired roughly.

"We don't know." The lavender-eyed beauty replied as the captain regarded him in a hostile manner.

"Why the fuck do you care where the girl went?"

"I care because she's my little sister, damn it! Now where the fucking hell did that blond bastard send her to?" He had finally connected the magic to the blonde's aura. True, he had sensed a couple of other auras as well, but the one that had performed that teleportation spell in the galley had been that pilot.

"Touya, three minutes. We need to get out of here." Yukito spoke urgently, looking over his shoulder at the three people inside the room.

"Fuck it." Touya growled, hurrying into the small kitchen. "Get your brat and let's go!" He barked, grabbing hold of the unmoving pilot's arm as he looked at the other two. "This place is going to blow up in less than two minutes."

"Syaoran's not here either." Tomoyo told him, grabbing Fai's other arm, which she slung across her shoulder so that the blond was half raised off the floor. Following her example, Touya did the same and motioned for Yukito to lead them back to the hatch with only a minute left to go.

"Leave that bastard to die here!" Kurogane spat venomously as he followed after them nonetheless.

"You might not care about his life much, but I need him alive to find out where he sent my little Kaijuu to. I am _not_ losing her again. Not like this." Just as they reached the entrance hatch, they found it sealed shut.

"Shit!" Yukito cursed as he attached his palmpilot to the hatch lock, his fingers dancing across the hollow-screen flashing before him. "I can't get it to reopen."

"Get out of the way!" Kurogane growled as he took a couple of steps back. Raising his sword, he spun around, whirling the gleaming blade along as he let out a loud cry, _Hama Ryou Jin!_ Touya felt magic pulsate in the air, raising the hair at the back of his neck as two visible streams of yellow concentric semi-circles crashed into the hatch, tearing it apart like it was made of nothing but paper.

"Move!" He yelled, motioning for Yukito to take up the lead, waiting for Tomoyo and Touya to drag Fai along as he brought up the rear.

As soon as the five were on the other side of the sealing hatch and onboard _Mokona_, Touya dropped Fai, racing towards the cockpit. "Yuki, seal the hatch and bring up the primary shields." Knowing his friend would do so without any delay, he took up the controls once more, hastily feeding instructions to _Mokona's_ processor to activate the warp drive and the secondary shields. It wasn't a smart move to do so in such close proximity of what was no doubt going to be a noticeable explosion, but they didn't have much time to do anything else. Just as _Mokona's_ tail end vanished inside the warp, the remnants of _Little Dragon_ blew up in a brilliant flash of gold, crimson and indigo.

-0-

"You alright?" Yukito asked softly, walking up to the dark haired hunter staring broodily through the window in the viewing bay.

"Is he stable?" Touya chose to ignore the inquiry about his own condition for now. He'd be fine when he found Sakura.

He heard Yukito sigh beside him but he knew that the grey-eyed man would drop the topic for now. He was proven correct when the hacker launched into a detailed explanation of his observations. "His magical reserves are almost non-existent, what little remains is currently battling the effects of the seal placed on him. From the looks of it, the seal is at least five to six cycles old, and from what I have learnt from Tomoyo-san, he's been travelling with them for at least four and a half cycles now."

"So that seal was the reason why I was unable to tell how strong his magic was," Touya nodded in understanding, still finding it difficult to believe that someone had survived for that long after defecting from Fei Wang Reed's army. That seal should have turned his insides into a complete mess cycles ago. He had seen magicians succumb to that very seal in as little time as a few hours and here was this blond who had survived for _cycles!_ Just how strong was that bastard? And for him to still be alive when his reserves are almost non-existent?

"It's hurting him a lot," Yukito said sadly, "that's a given, but he'll pull through if we manage to keep Kurogane-san away from him until he wakes up."

"Did you find out why he's so intent on killing his own pilot?" Touya inquired.

"Tomoyo-san didn't say anything on that topic."

"I see." The blue-eyed hunter nodded, pushing away from the glass pane as he started walking towards the small cabin where the medic was attending to the unconscious pilot. Kurogane had inflicted some serious wounds on the blond before the medic had stepped in, stopping him from dealing the finishing blow.

"Tomoyo," he greeted the lavender-eyed woman politely as he stepped through the sliding door, knowing full well that the fuming captain of the now destroyed _Little Dragon _was confined to _Mokona's_ cargo hold.

"Oh, hello, Touya." She responded politely, reaching out for the gauze as she set aside the sewing needle and began unrolling the white material. "What brings you here?" she questioned with that same air of indifferent civility as she started wrapping Fai's stitched wounds.

"I need to know what happened after I left." He decided to get straight to the point. No use beating about the proverbial bush.

"What happened to Sakura?" she questioned softly, taping the end of the gauze with a bit of surgical tape. "If you're her brother, why didn't you say so when you were with us last time?"

Touya suppressed the urge to snort in disdain, "Would any of you have believed me if I had told you that? I can already imagine the 'what the fuck' reactions on all of your faces if I just walked up to her and said, '_Oh hey, Sakura. It's me, Touya, your older brother.'_ She didn't even _remember_ me when she saw me." A soft, bittersweet smile made its way to his lips as he closed his eyes. "As much as it hurt, I could see the hatred in her eyes… You know, she looks just like our mother now."

"What makes you so sure she'll believe you now?" she asked cautiously.

"I have proof this time but…"

"You still need to find her." Tomoyo finished for him, nodding her head in understanding before looking back at him. "We went to Piffle for a little break after you escaped. We met your cousin there, Kyle Rondart. Sakura was excited to have found a connection to her past, and so she decided to invite him back to our ship. Only… things didn't go as well as planned. Kyle turned out to be working for the Bat Lord and he took us both hostage. None of us had known Fai had previous ties with them, but… that he… Syaoran always trusted him so much. How could we have known that… that…" she broke down into sobs at this point, and as much as Touya didn't like to make people, especially such kindhearted women, cry, he knew he would have to coax her into telling him the whole thing. Sakura was much more important.

"Tomoyo, please, pull yourself together." He said softly, awkwardly patting her on the back. "What did he do?"

"He… he was responsible for Syaoran's condition… Fai… he… _helped_ those bastards."

"Where is he now?" he prodded gently, wondering about the location of the strange, amber-eyed brunette.

"Kyle did something to him… I've never seen Syaoran look like that before… Ever since Sakura joined us onboard _Little Dragon_, Syaoran's condition was steadily improving… he was beginning to return to his former self. His fits became non-existent, he grew more relaxed around us and he began to smile so much… the minute he saw Kyle, it was like three cycles back all over again. He was _so_ scared of him. And I was helpless to do anything to protect him…" Touya decided to let her cry a bit more. Maybe she needed to get out of her system?

"I'm not sure why, but Kyle said something about wanting to take both of them back somewhere."

"Fai-san and Syaoran-kun?" Yukito asked, and it was only then that Touya realized his friend had been listening to the tale as well.

"No," she shook her head, "Syaoran and Sakura."

Touya felt his jaw harden upon hearing that. "Did that bastard take her away?"

"Fai interfered." She shook her head again, "He cast some spell on her and she was gone before Kyle could get to her. He said something about being strong enough to undo a memory seal or something. But whatever magic he used, it certainly cost Fai a lot. His shoulder began to bleed and he just collapsed in a heap. I guess… he wasn't strong enough to help Syaoran, too."

"What happened to him?" Touya was grateful to Yukito for taking over. His mind was reeling with what he had just learnt. A memory seal. So those files had been genuine. But if the seal was undone, Sakura would remember. She would remember him! Despite the gravity of the situation, Touya wanted to leap for joy. His Kaijuu would know it was him when she saw him.

"Kyle put some sort of paper on Syaoran and he collapsed as this green power surrounded him."

"For his aura to have manifested visibly, Syaoran-kun must be a very powerful mage." Yukito commented

"Kurogane and I didn't even know he had magic."

"You mean to tell me you never noticed the seal on his arm?" Touya couldn't help but ask in wonder. How could they not have noticed such an obvious thing when even _he_ had picked up on it the first time he had encountered the boy.

"It was never visible before." The medic responded quietly as she looked away.

"Did he manage to get the brat?" The hunter asked, ignoring the annoyed look Tomoyo shot at him.

"Kurogane and I were paralyzed and Fai had collapsed after the spell he used to send Sakura away." She relented after a while. "They blew up the engines to make it impossible for us to follow them. Kyle even sabotaged our communications controls, leaving us completely stranded there."

"So you have no idea where he could have taken Syaoran-kun?"

"No." Tomoyo replied, and she looked on the verge of tears once more.

"Sakura will be able to find him." A voice tinged with weakness and exhaustion had the three of them reeling towards the previously unconscious pilot.

_**A/N: I know I promised to reveal what happened to Syaoran in greater detail but this chapter is already almost 3000 words long and since I did not want to cut that story in the middle, I decided to make it a separate chapter. I still revealed a lot though. ;) ;) feel free to rant at me for not keeping my promises if you want but words of encouragement and praises about how awesome an author I am make me write faster. **_

_**Kurogane: You're just trying to fish for complements.**_

_**Me: Who? Me?**_

_**Kurogane: *rolls his eyes* No, I meant the meat bun.**_

_**Mokona: But Mokona is already awesome!**_

_**Kurogane: *snorts* I find that hard to believe.**_

_**Me: I think, you're just jealous Kurgz, everyone knows Mokona is much awesomer than you, right Mokona?**_

_**Mokona: Right! And you guys can all help Mokona prove that to Kuro-meanie by saying so in your reviews.**_

_**Me: Hurry up guys can't let Kurga-lurga win. If we lose, Fai loses his right to call Kurgy-burger weird made up names and Mokona loses its popularity. Oh and I kinda lose motivation to write as well ^_^;**_

_**Kurogane: Don't you dare review! I can finally get rid of those stupid nicknames once and for all.**_

_**Me: *locks Kuro in closet* There, I even locked up the big meanie so that you can all review in peace.**_

_**PS. In case if anything doesn't really make sense or if you found the above conversation completely unamusing and a complete waste of words, just know that I have been operating on about three hours of sleep in the last 36 hours. I am about to drop dead right now but I'm forcing myself to stay awake till I can put this chapter up. Hope you guys all liked it.**_

_**-Nims**_


	33. Leaping to the Past Part 1

_**Yes! Only two more exams left! *grins* I've been working on this piece for quite a while now and there's still so many things that I need to cover but I decided to divide this chapter into two parts since this is already over 4000 words long. And I'm only halfway done! Seeing as I've been keeping you people waiting for more than a month I think, I decided it's time for an update. That and there were two very persistent reviewers who kept on asking for an update.**_

_**Oh speaking of reviews, Shattered Secrets has crossed the 200 review mark! So this chapter is dedicated to all my faithful readers and reviewers. Keep your comments and criticism coming. Any advice to help me improve further would be appreciated a lot as well.**_

_**By the way guys, I don't mind anonymous reviews at all but if you want me to reply to any questions you might have, please leave a signed review or send me a PM so I have a way of getting back to you, okay?**_

_**Now, without any further ado, enjoy!**_

"Sakura will be able to find him." A voice tinged with weakness and exhaustion had the three of them reeling towards the previously unconscious pilot.

"Fai," Tomoyo spoke, her voice uncharacteristically hard and chilly.

"Where did you send her?" Touya was immediately on the blond, his hands clutching at the collar of the blonde's soiled shirt. Fai opened his mouth to answer but was cut off by a rather harsh coughing fit.

"Touya, you're choking him," Yukito warned quietly, putting a restraining hand on his friend's shoulder. Shooting the pilot a contemptuous look, Touya let him drop back onto the makeshift bunk.

"She's… She's with her… employer." Fai managed to get out between his harsh coughs, doubling over in pain as they worsened. Touya spotted flecks of blood landing on the blonde's jeans before he covered his mouth with one hand.

"Fuck… this hurts like hell." He laughed bitterly, pulling his hand away once the fit subsided, his eyes widening slightly as he took in the crimson staining his hands.

"You shouldn't push yourself." Tomoyo instructed quietly, her tone still apathetic and somewhat distant. Touya spotted hurt flash in the pilot's now blue eyes, but he masked it quicker than the hunter could have said Kaijuu.

"I know that no matter what I do or say," Fai addressed the medic, not daring to meet her gaze as he lowered it to stare at his hands resting fisted atop his knees. "It will never make up for all the things that I did. And I know…" harsh coughing rattled his chest as blood dribbled through the finger covering his mouth. "I know… that what I did to Syaoran is inexcusable…. I won't blame you if you decide to run me through with your blades as… I am sure you are very close to doing right now."

"You're right," she spat all of a sudden. "You've been lying to us all along. We trusted you! We trusted you and you… you betrayed us!" She nearly shrieked but managed to keep her composure somewhat. "If we didn't need you to find him… I would have let Kurogane kill you without a second thought."

"I know." He rasped, still refusing to look at her, "you have every right to want to do so… but…"

"But what?" she snarled.

"I'm not as heartless as you're making me out to be, Tomoyo." He responded quietly.

The sharp slap that echoed in the small cabin actually made Touya cringe. The hunter sneaked a glance at the pilot, who was holding a hand to his face where the medic had hit him, before turning his attention back to the lavender-eyed woman.

"You… You bastard." Tomoyo hissed, breathing hard as she glared at him.

"I deserved that," he finally raised his eyes to meet her furious stare, blue eyes awash with regret, guilt, and sorrow.

"And that." He added when the palm of her other hand connected with his cheek in another resounding clap.

"And I definitely deserved that one." He wheezed, trying to struggle back to his feet as Kurogane towered over him, arm still outstretched from where he had punched the blue-eyed magician. When the heck had he gotten inside? Touya wondered in bewilderment as he watched the red-eyed captain lift the blonde off his feet by his collar.

"Give me one good reason why I shouldn't kill you right now?" The ex-captain hissed venomously. "I should just snap your scrawny neck in half right where you stand. We can find the kid on our own."

"Then why haven't you, Kurogane?" Touya found himself taken by surprise at the challenge in the blonde's tone.

"Bastard, the minute we have the kid back, I'm tearing you apart, limb from bloody fucking limb."

"I don't…" Fai began to cough again, blood staining his pale lips as he almost doubled over, "…care what you plan on doing to me…" another cough interrupted his words, "all I care about right now… Is getting Syaoran away from those bastards…" he coughed up more blood.

"Why do you care?" The words were out of his mouth before Touya could stop himself. "You're the one who did whatever it was that happened to the brat, wasn't it?"

"I had no other choice back then…" the blond responded, wiping his bloody mouth with the back of his hand, "but now," he added softly, casting what could only be interpreted as a meaningful glance in the direction of his former companions, "I'll make them regret what they did." Before any of them could react, the pilot traced a spell in the air in a move so fast his hand appeared nothing but a blur of skin and crimson. Touya could only gape in shock. His spells took on the form of words. Just how strong was this guy? Touya felt a sinking, sucking sensation in the base of his gut before his surroundings turned black.

'I don't have the energy to sustain the spell for long. Please, they have to know why I did it.'

As the voice echoed all around him, Touya opened his eyes to their widest, straining to pick up a shred of light. In the distance, he could see a small blue orb, pulsating weakly, almost flickering out of existence but stubbornly holding on. For a minute Touya considered not listening to the voice, thinking about Sakura and how he needed to find her. But he knew that if the magician exhausted his reserves while trying to sustain what was no doubt a very powerful spell, he'd die or be incapacitated for a very long time at the very least. And then he'd have an even harder time finding his little Kaijuu. So the hunter merely closed his eyes in response, frowning in slight concentration. His aura flared out, just as color and voices and light filled his surroundings. Touya heard the pilot sigh gratefully.

'_Thank you.'_

_Touya opened his eyes to find himself standing in a snow-covered yard. To his right was a tall, elegantly built structure of icy-blue stone. Looking at it closely, Touya realized that the stone was in fact ice. But the structure built out of it appeared resilient and sturdy. A man with skin as pale as the snow on the ground emerged on top of the balcony some thirty feet above him._

"Where the heck are we?" He heard Kurogane growl a little ways behind him.

"I don't know." Came Tomoyo's equally confused reply.

"_The queen has given birth to twin princes!" the pale-featured man spoke in a booming voice. Touya could almost feel the magic used to make his voice sound that high. "Rejoice, my fellow subjects. The gods above smile upon us. May good fortune be with us."_

_All around him people erupted into loud cheers._

"Mage! Where the fuck are we?"

Touya could feel the blond struggling to maintain control over the spell, so he decided to answer for him, knowing that the other was incapable of doing so. "His memories."

_As if on cue, the scenery around them shifted to that of the inside of the ice castle, for the grand building could not have been anything else. The ceiling was high with tall glass windows, lighting up the room, hovering chandeliers with glowing orbs of orange fire placed in strategic places casting beautiful shades of gold to play over the silvery blue surface._

_Two boys, twins from the looks of it, no older than three years of age, played in the center of the room with stuffed creatures that Touya had never seen in his life, but had heard of in plenty of stories his mother used to tell him as a child. __Ice Phoenixes.__ A fair-haired maid with long golden locks and pink, plump lips watched the two children play fondly._

"_I wish it would fly." One of the twins sighed sadly as he dropped his toy on the floor and began to struggle to his feet, almost tripping over the thick, fur-lined robes he wore._

"_These are just toys little brother, only the real ones can fly." His twin spoke seriously and Touya resisted the urge to smile as the younger of the two twin stuck out his tongue playfully._

"_Oh, yeah? Well, I bet Mama can make it fly."_

"_Mama can make a lot of other thing fly too." the older twin replied, sounding years more mature than his current age._

"_I wish I could too."_

"_Fai, Yuui," the maid that stood a little distance away, addressed the twins as she walked up to them. "It's time for dinner. Let's go, you two."_

"_Coming," the younger twin sang as he jumped to his feet. "Will Father and Uncle be joining us for dinner as well?"_

"_That is what I was told," the maid responded with a gentle smile as she picked up the toys that were strewn about the room and began arranging them on a floating rack in one corner of the room. The walls glistened prettily, reflecting her silhouette as she moved in front of them. The older twin gave a startled cry all of a sudden, doubling over on the floor as he clutched at his sides._

"_Fai!" The younger twin cried out in alarm as he rushed to his brother's side. The maid, having heard this, dropped the toys and raced over to the fallen blond. "Fai!" His brother seemed hysterical as he watched the little boy on the floor with tears brimming in his eyes. "What's wrong with him? Why won't he say something, Anika? Fai!"_

"_Y-Yuui…" the little boy rasped as softly as a pale blue, pulsating light seemed to envelop him, smoky tendrils reaching out towards the younger twin._

"_A mage…" the maid gasped softly, her wide eyes fixated on the plush toys hovering several feet above the ground as the pulsating blue light danced off of the icy walls. Touya felt their surroundings shift once more._

"_Oh, Sister-in-law, what delightful news this is." Touya spotted the pale skinned man that had announced the princes' birth grin jovially at a beautiful blond woman with skin just as fair as the moon at night, hair the shade of spun threads of gold, and eyes a warm, comforting color of honey brown, "My older nephew has magic in him. What more good luck can we ask for? The gods must indeed be feeling merciful to have blessed us with them."_

"_Yes, it is wonderful news indeed." The woman smiled. Her voice was soft and melodious as she spoke the words, her gaze shifting towards the small blonde hiding behind her knees in a shy manner. "Fai, come greet your Uncle." _

"_H-Hello, Uncle." The boy bowed timidly, quickly ducking behind his mother._

"_Hello, my dearest Nephew!" The man boomed heartily as he swooped forward and grabbed the blond in a tight hug. "You have made your uncle very proud."_

"_Thank you, Uncle."_

"_Now, where is that other nephew of mine?"_

"_Uncle!" A golden blur tackled the older man's knee with a delighted cry. Touya's surroundings morphed and the hunter found himself standing in an exotic-looking garden. There was snow covering the ground everywhere ,and the trees that surrounded him appeared to be made out of brittle-looking glass ,but the crystalline branches swayed in the slight breeze, pale blue colored leaves rustling in the gentle wind as purple blossoms with the tips of their petals flaming beautifully floated to the ground all around her. He spotted one of the twins crouching behind a tree, giggling softly as he watched the scene unfold before him._

"_It appears as though we may have to cut our meeting short today, Brother." The hunter heard the queen's soft voice and it was then that he was made aware of the presence of the petite woman standing a few feet away from him .A blond man was walking out of the trees with the other twin seated on his shoulders._

"_That's alright, Sister-in-law. I'll just bring my nephews to the fair down in town for a while, if you don't mind."_

"_You mustn't spoil them so, Brother." She reprimanded lightly, shooting a disapproving glance towards the twin seated atop the man's shoulders, who merely grinned back cheekily. It appeared as though they had yet to notice the other child's presence. "These two have yet to complete their assigned punishments." _

"_Aww…" the boy pouted childishly, "But Mama, I was only trying to prove to Yuui that the eggs would not break if dropped from the tower. It's not our fault that the grumpy old cook was just walking past when we tipped the basket." _

"_And the bag of flour that fell and nearly broke his neck was just an accident?" She quirked a brow, making the blond lower his head sheepishly._

"_Yes?"_

_Out of the corner of his eye, Touya saw a blue aura envelop the twin that was hiding behind the trees. Wisps of translucent magic began plucking the flaming petals out of the air before they could fall, twirling them around the three present in the garden in gentle circles. _

"_Fai, I thought we forbade you from using magic outside your classroom for now?" The queen looked disapprovingly at the twin sitting on her brother-in-law's shoulders._

"_But, Mama, I'm-" The boy started only to be cut off by his uncle. _

"_Oh, relax, Sister. Let the boy have some fun."_

"_You really shouldn't be encouraging such behavior, Brother." The queen sighed. "Fai, stop this instant before your magic goes out of control. You still don't have full control over it yet."_

"_But, Mama, I'm not doing it." Fai cried out, shaking his head in denial. Touya took note of the younger twin still hiding behind the trees, peals of laughter spilling from his lips as he struggled to stifle them._

"_Fai." The queen warned. "If you don't stop right now, I won't allow you to go to the fair with your uncle."_

_Hearing this, Yuui sobered up, immediately darting out of the trees with a panicked look._

"_Mama, don't punish Brother. It wasn't him."_

"_What do you mean, Nephew?" the boy's uncle asked cautiously._

"_It was me." the younger twin grinned widely, "Look! I can do what Brother can do." And then he closed his eyes, translucent wisps of magic slowly starting to twirl the petals around the four in circles._

"_Yuui, that's amazing!" Fai exclaimed in delight._

"_Another mage…" the prince murmured, his features growing paler than the snow surrounding them as he slowly set Fai on the ground. _

"_Mama, isn't that great?" Fai laughed happily, "Now Yuui can come to lessons with me too."_

_When he received no reply, Fai frowned as Yuui called his magic back, noticing something amiss with the scene as well._

"_Mama?" Fai called hesitantly._

"_What's wrong?" Yuui questioned softly, walking up to the queen who stood still as a statue, tears streaming endlessly down her cheeks. "Why are you crying?"_

"_What have I done?" She whispered in horror before collapsing on the ground in an unmoving heap._

"_Mama!"_

_The memory changed again. It seemed as though some time had passed since the last memory, seeing as the blonde twins huddling silently behind a large tapestry appeared older._

"_My lord, we cannot let things proceed in this manner." It was the boy's uncle, kneeling before a dark-haired man with eyes blue like the sky on a clear, sunny, morning, although right now they were clouded by frustration and helplessness. "It pains me to say this, but those twins are a curse."_

"_Brother, they are my sons." The man spoke quietly._

"_And this is your kingdom that is dying." Their uncle argued._

"_Valeria has faced droughts before."_

"_But never for this long. Or of this magnitude."_

"…"

"_You know of this curse just as well as I do, little brother." The twins' uncle sighed. "One with magic is a blessing but if they both wield it, the fields shall grow barren, the sky dark and the land frozen. They possess too much magic. If we don't do something about it soon, we all shall perish."_

"_I can't order the slaughter of my own flesh and blood!"_

"_Hideki, they shielded their aura from even our strongest seers, without even knowing what they were doing. Just imagine what else they could do. We __cannot__ let this go on. We have been keeping Yuui's magic a secret for over three years now. But how long do you think this façade will last?"_

"_Brother, please…"_

"_All I ask of you, Your Highness, is to reconsider your decision."_

_The scene around them flickered before revealing the grand throne room yet again. However, unlike last time, the room was packed with people, all dressed in black or silver, solemn expressions set on their faces as a translucent crystal coffin came into existence before them. Inside lay the brown-haired ruler of the kingdom, clearly dead._

"_The curse has taken our beloved King from our midst." The boy's uncle spoke in a solemn tone, casting a narrow-eyed glance in the direction of the twins standing behind the sobbing queen. _

_The memory flickered once more and Touya found himself standing in someone's sleeping chambers. Quickly he cast a glance around him, but he was unable to spot the twins anywhere. However, knowing it was a memory belonging to one of the two, he knew they were around somewhere._

"_Sister, I implore you to reconsider Hideki's decision. His stubbornness cost him his life. I do not wish to lose you in the same manner."_

"_No." she shook her head. "I cannot give them up like this."_

"_Would you rather fall victim to their curse, same as your husband?"  
_

"_Why must you be so cruel, Brother-in-law?" the queen whispered brokenly. "It has not even been a day since I lost him. And yet you come to me to convince me to give up all that I have left of him in my life?"_

"_I only have your and this kingdom's best interest at heart." The man bowed his head._

"_Then please, I beg of you, let me at least mourn for my husband in peace." She cried out. "I swear I'll make a decision regarding the twins in a one moon's time."_

"_That is all I wanted to hear, Your Majesty. I apologize for intruding like this." With a sweeping bow, the blond man turned and left._

"_Mama?" The closet door creaked open and one of the twins hesitantly stepped forth. "Are you going to order our execution because we are bad luck?"_

_The scene morphed into black just as the queen threw her arms around the child, pulling him close to her. The memory changed to that of a dark room._

"_Yuui?" A soft voice called out in the darkness. "Do you hate me?"_

"…"

"_Sending Fai away was the only option left." The queen's silhouette was visible in the partially-opened door to the room. "I couldn't let them lock you two away in the valley of sinners."_

"_Living like this isn't any better." Yuui replied quietly from somewhere in the darkness._

"_Please forgive me, Son." The woman said, silently stepping inside the room. There was a snap of fingers and a soft glow lit up the room, the figure of the younger twin thrown into sharp relief against the sheets of the bed he lay in. Sweat beaded his brow, his features drawn, pale and sickly. "I know of the pain you are going through. __Magical twins share a bond like no other. For them, separation is the worst torture imaginable.__ "_

"_And yet…" he coughed, turning his back to the woman._

"_What would you have had me do, then?" The boy's mother cried in defeat, slumping heavily on the ground. "Kill you both?" Touya did not even seem to notice it as the scene shifted to a different memory._

"_The people long to see the sun." It was the boy's uncle once more that was speaking. Raindrops pattered heavily against the frosted windows of the throne room. The queen sat at the throne, her spun-gold hair pulled back in an intricate design at the back of her head, the beautiful jeweled crown resting at the crown of her forehead. Yet she looked tired, exhausted, and fatigued. Her eyes had dark circles beneath them, and her face seemed to have lost the ethereal glow it had once possessed. The hunter caught brief sight of a flash of blonde out of the corner of his eye. The child was eavesdropping again._

"_As I long to see my son," the queen answered softly. "But we can't all have what we want, can we now, Brother?"_

"_My queen, several members of the council feel it might be in the best interests of this kingdom if we were to-"_

"_No." she cut in sharply._

"_But, your majesty-"_

"_I said no. I respect you as my late husband's older brother," she said. "But I'm afraid this is something that will not agree to."_

"_Your Highness-"_

"_They have already forced me to part with one of my children. No one can dare make me lose another." The memory turned fuzzy before morphing into something different as the blonde boy, now nearly thirteen years of age, walked away from the throne room, unnoticed by the other two occupants._

"_I'm telling you. It's __their__ curse that's gotten to her Highness as well." Touya heard a woman dressed up as a maid say to another. "Her Majesty is withering away right before our eyes."_

"_And yet there is nothing we can do about- Oh! Y-your Highness." The woman nervously bowed towards the blonde prince._

"_Is Mother awake yet?" Yuui asked quietly, giving no hint of having heard the two gossiping women._

"_The royal healer just finished his visit fifteen clicks ago." She replied quickly._

"_Thank you." He inclined his head towards them once before calmly walking down the hall._

"_He couldn't possibly be planning on cursing her Majesty already." The maid said in worried tones once she thought he was out of earshot. "Her Highness collapsed during the weekly hearing yesterd…" their voices drifted away. The blonde stopped outside a pair of grand, ebony-carved doors. Biting his lip, he hesitated for a while. He raised his hand, almost about to push the door open before deciding on the alternative as he turned away and started walking in the direction opposite to the one he had come from. The memory changed._

_Raging winds whistled angrily all around him, the merciless drops of rain pounding against the secluded rooftop like bullets. Lightning flashed across the sky, its eerie, deadly-blue glow casting ghostly shadows all around him. He spotted a mop of dirty blond somewhere to his right, but the light was gone before he could have determined what it was. Despite the thunderstorm, however, he could somehow hear the panicked voices of the servants bustling about inside the castle._

"_He's done it!" one woman cried hysterically. "His curse is complete!"_

"_She's gone!" screamed another, "The Queen is no more."_

_Touya thought he heard the young prince scream in agony but for some reason, the teen's cries were the only ones drowned by the crashing thunder as the cacophony of the grieving subjects inside the castle only grew louder. And then the memory changed._

"_The only way to rid us of this eternal curse is to get rid of its source!" the voice that yelled this sounded suspiciously like the tin's uncle. "Even when separated, those twins have managed to take our beloved rulers from us. They've even taken our livelihood from us. Citizens of Valeria, there is only one thing that we can do now. We must get rid of that wretched being that damns our very existence!"_

_The cries of approval grew loud even though he could not see the crowd. The blond crouching behind a rock formation simply bit his lip as he turned away from the once grand castle. Above him, the sky wept like it had done now for many, many years. "I'm really sorry things turned out this way." A dark haired man stepped out of the shadows as he approached the blond. His bluish-grey eyes took note of the small satchel the boy fourteen year old had slung over one shoulder._

"_Is that all you need?" he asked turning around to lead him._

"_Yeah," the teen responded softly, lowering his head as the sounds of the crowd were drowned out by the storm. "I don't have anything left there. I really appreciate your helping me out."_

"_It's the least I could do for your mother." The man shrugged, "she was a good friend of mine." They walked down the slippery gravely path for a while before turning around a cluster of trees. They similar to the flaming trees Touya had seen in the garden where Yuui had revealed his magic but they were far away from the castle itself. _

"_Do you have any what you're going to do once you get off this planet?" the man asked weaving his way through the trees without even looking where he was going. But from the way he held himself, Touya knew the man knew perfectly well where the two were headed. The teen remained silent for a long time, his fingers absently playing with the satchel before his eyes hardened in determination._

"_I'm going to find my brother."_

_**Aaaaaaand there. All done! For now. *yawns* well, I'm off to get my well deserved nap. Since tomorrow is an easy exam so I'm planning on taking it easy as well and actually get a good night's rest. So till next time.**_

_**-Nims**_


	34. ch 33 Preview

_**A/N: Alrighty people!**_

_**Not exactly a complete update but this is just a preview for the chapter. I received an anonymous review today that said that people are thinking that I might be holding my stories for ransom once again. I can assure you guys that I have a valid reason for not updating as fast as I usually do and that does not involve me holding these little babies at ransom for reviews. I'm past that stage now. xP The thing is that despite it being a time when people are generally enjoying their summer vacations, I'm taking a couple of summer courses that are being offered at my university this year. One of them happens to be a programming course that demands a lot of my time. Plus, I'll be starting my final year in a couple of months and I have to come up with a good final year project and that means that I have to go and visit a lot of teachers for discussions and stuff. Plus, I've decided to start on a few other extra-curricular activities, helping out with organizing a few events here and there. As much as I love to write, I really can't find any time to write these days. So I apologize for the slow updates but bear with me here guys. I'm working on all my fics whenever I can but I don't want to put up half-assed chapter. Here's a little preview of the next chapter for you guys though. I'll be replacing this chapter with the actual one when I'm finished with it, k?**_

_**Enjoy for now.**_

Sakura felt the world twirling around her as she came too. With a groan she forced her lids apart with great difficulty; it was as though someone had glued them together. Bright artificial light assaulted her eyes making her shut them almost instantaneously. She tried one more time after a little while, opening them slowly, almost hesitantly as she pushed herself into a sitting position… and blinked.

The low lighting of her bedroom in Infinity greeted her vision.

"So you are finally awake."

"Y-Yuuko!" she jumped almost a foot into the air as she heard her employer's voice. She almost fell off the bed in her haste to turn around to face the older woman. Yuuko Ichihara, the hidden ruler of Infinity was a tall, dark haired beauty with flawless milky skin and exotic wine colored eyes. Despite the way that woman liked to dress, she carried herself with a grace and poise befitting of her station. With her long hair pulled back in a messy half bun with the remainder of her hair flowing way past her hips, dressed in a pair of artistically ripped jeans and a strappy backless shirt, her appearance belied her age. Only those with magical sight would be able to feel the buzz of ancient magic about her person, strong enough to rival the legendary sorcerers and mages produced by the royal line of the now barren planet of Valeria.

"I take it you found what you were looking for."

"The kingdom of Clow… Touya nii-san… my parents… E-everything was… You knew all along, didn't you?" Sakura finally managed to gather her thoughts, though her tone was anything but accusing.

"I did."

"Why didn't you tell me then?"

"The memory seal placed on you by the one that sent you to me all those cycles ago made it impossible for you to remember anything related to you past."

"But these past few weeks…"

"Your proximity to Xiao Lang served as a means to weaken that seal. The fact that you had continuous encounters with your brother helped as well."

"Xiao Lang- you mean Syaoran, don't you?"

"I do."

"I still can't recall having met him before." She frowned thoughtfully. "But when I first met him on that ship, it felt like I had known him forever…"

"Do you have any idea of what Fei Wong had done to you while you were being kept in his captivity?" Yuuko asked as she draped herself languidly on one of the chairs set in Sakura's room.

"I know he was trying to change me into a mindless weapon. He had the memories of my life with my parents and Nii-san and Yukito-san erased for that very reason, didn't he?" it felt strange, going back to addressing those two like she had when she was a little kid all of a sudden but then again, now that she had her memories, she knew that it was only right to do so. "The training regime he had me go under after that was just to convert me into the perfect obedient weapon. That's why even after Fai took away my memories of the time in captivity after he broke me out I still couldn't stop myself from killing anyone." Realization dawned on her, "That was why I never missed a single target!"

"Precisely," her employer nodded, "but do you have any idea of what else he had had done to you?"

"No."

"The princess of Clow was rumored to be a very powerful mage, one having the capability to surpass even the legendary Clow Reed himself. Only one other person is said to have a power equal to that of the princess… The young heir of the Li clan."

"But I heard the Li clan was wiped out in a massacre a few cycles back." Sakura frowned. "Around the same time Clow was taken over by Fei."

"It was on the same night as a matter of fact." Yuuko said, pausing long enough to let her words sink in. "Fei Wang Reed wanted both the princess and the heir as his personal weapons."

"And judging from those files I stole…" Sakura said after a while, catching on to what Yuuko was getting at. "He got his hands on him as well. But he didn't use the same tactics with Syaoran as he did with me. Syaoran remembers his family. He recognized the sketch of his mother that I drew after a dream I had."

"No," Yuuko sighed tiredly, shaking her head as she glanced as Sakura, "after seeing how you had managed to escape his clutches despite all the brainwashing, Fei Wong devised a new plan. He decided to use magic to suppress that child's personality and diminish his mind so much that in the end, he would be nothing but a mindless doll, carrying out whatever task his master willed. I have not been able to ascertain how he did it, but your magic was involved in the process, Sakura."

"What?" Sakura almost shrieked in surprise.

"That is why he feels so familiar to you." Yuuko pressed, "He has your magic inside of him. The original seal on your shoulder was designed to siphon off parts of your magic that gave you your compassionate nature so that you could be used as an effective weapon. That part of your magic now resides in Xiao Lang, making him an empath. But since he was not born with this ability, he has a very hard time controlling it."

"But wouldn't him having the abilities of an empath work against the whole suppression thing?"

"The seal that he has was designed to counter that." Yuuko shook her head as she climbed to her feet. "I need to get going now. Some important clients will be here soon and I have to prepare for their arrival."


	35. Leaping to the Past Part 2

_**A/N: It's finally done! The chapter that is. I hope the length of the chapter will make up for the long wait. I'm too lazy to go and replace the chapter so I'll just put it up in a new post, okay? Enjoy!**_

Sakura felt the world twirling around her as she came to. With a groan she forced her lids apart despite great difficulty; it was as though someone had glued them together. Bright, artificial light assaulted her eyes, making her shut them almost instantaneously. She tried once again after a little while, opening them slowly, almost hesitantly, as she pushed herself into a sitting position…and blinked.

The low lighting of her bedroom in Infinity greeted her vision.

"So you are finally awake."

"Y-Yuuko!" She jumped almost a foot into the air as she heard her employer's voice. She nearly fell off the bed in her haste to turn around to face the older woman. Yuuko Ichihara, the hidden ruler of Infinity, was a tall, dark haired beauty with flawless, milky skin and exotic, wine-colored eyes. Despite the way that woman liked to dress, she carried herself with a grace and poise befitting of her station. With her long hair pulled back in a messy half bun and the remainder flowing way past her hips, dressed in a pair of artistically ripped jeans and a strappy, backless shirt, her appearance belied her age. Only those with magical sight would be able to feel the buzz of ancient magic about her person, strong enough to rival the legendary sorcerers and mages produced by the royal line ofthe now barren planet of Valeria.

"I take it you found what you were looking for."

"The kingdom of Clow… Touya-Nii-san… my parents… E-everything was… You knew all along, didn't you?" Sakura finally managed to gather her thoughts, though her tone was anything but accusing.

"I did."

"Why didn't you tell me, then?"

"The seal placed on your memories by the one that sent you to me all those cycles ago made it impossible for you to remember anything related to you past."

"But these past few weeks…"

"Your proximity to Xiao Lang served as a means to weaken that seal. The fact that you had continuous encounters with your brother helped as well."

"Xiao Lang- you mean Syaoran, don't you?"

"I do."

"I still can't recall having met him before." She frowned thoughtfully. "But when I first met him on that ship, it felt like I had known him forever…"

"Do you have any idea of what Fei Wong had done to you while you were being kept in his captivity?" Yuuko asked as she draped herself languidly on one of the chairs set in Sakura's room.

"I know he was trying to change me into a mindless weapon. He had the memories of my life with my parents and Nii-san and Yukito-san erased for that very reason, didn't he?" It felt strange, going back to addressing those two like she had when she was a little kid all of a sudden, but then again, now that she had her memories, she knew that it was only right to do so. "The training regime he had me go under after that was just to convert me into the perfect obedient weapon. That's why even after Fai took away my memories of the time in captivity when he broke me out, I still couldn't stop myself from killing anyone." Realization dawned on her, "That was why I never missed a single target!"

"Precisely," her employer nodded, "but do you have any idea of what else he did to you?"

"No."

"The princess of Clow was rumored to be a very powerful mage, one having the capability to surpass even the legendary Clow Reed himself. Only one other person is said to have a power equal to that of the princess… The young heir of the Li clan."

"But I heard the Li clan was wiped out in a massacre a few cycles back." Sakura frowned. "Around the same time Clow was taken over by Fei."

"It was on the same night, as a matter of fact." Yuuko said, pausing long enough to let her words sink in. "Fei Wong Reed wanted both the princess and the heir as his personal weapons."

"And judging from those files I stole…" Sakura said after a while, catching on to what Yuuko was getting at, "He got his hands on him as well. But he didn't use the same tactics with Syaoran as he did with me. Syaoran remembers his family. He recognized the sketch of his mother that I drew after a dream I had."

"No,"Yuuko sighed tiredly, shaking her head as she glanced as Sakura, "after seeing how you had managed to escape his clutches despite all the brainwashing, Fei Wong devised a new plan. He decided to use magic to suppress that child's personality and diminish his mind so much that in the end, he would be nothing but a mindless doll, carrying out whatever task his master willed. I have not been able to ascertain how he did it, but your magic was involved in the process, Sakura."

"What?"Sakura almost shrieked in surprise.

"That is why he feels so familiar to you." Yuuko pressed. "He has your magic inside of him. The original seal on your shoulder was designed to siphon off parts of your magic that gave you your compassionate nature, so that you could be used as an effective weapon. That part of your magic now resides in Xiao Lang, making him an empath. But since he was not born with this ability, he has a very hard time controlling it."

"But wouldn't that work against the whole suppression thing?"

"The seal that he has was designed to counter that." Yuuko shook her head as she climbed to her feet. "I need to get going now. Some important clients will be here soon, and I have to prepare for their arrival."

-0-

_Touya found himself standing in the cockpit of a ship that was just about to dock on a space port as soon as the darkness that marked the memories' transitions receded. A Yuui that looked a few cycles older, probably somewhere in his late teens if Touya had to hazard a guess, piloted the ship. _

"_So this is it, huh, squirt?" The door to the cabin slid open and the dark haired man that had taken Yuui away from Valeria spoke as he stepped inside._

"_After all these cycles," Yuui grinned, "I've finally found him."_

"_I'm happy for you, Yuui."_

"_Subaru, are you sure you can't come along?"_

"Someone _has got to make all those deliveries, now that my only pilot is retiring." The man ruffled Yuui's hair affectionately as though the teen was still just a kid."I'm sorry, squirt, but this is where we part ways."_

"_I guess so." _

"_Oh, cheer up. You'll be with your brother pretty soon."_

_Yuui smiled a hopeful smile. "Yeah…"_

_Darkness swallowed up the whole scene as the memory morphed once more._

-0-

Sakura went through her cupboards, throwing stuff haphazardly on the carpeted floor as she tried to find a particular set of objects. She paid little mind to the sliding of the door behind her as she found what she was looking for buried beneath some old junk from the days when she first started working with Yuuko.

"Found you!" She grinned, reaching out and plucking the objects from the bottom of her drawer. Holding one of the objects up to the light, she took a moment to admire the phoenix made of sapphires that adorned its hilt. Experimentally, she flicked it open and closed a few times, before twirling it around in her fingers, feeling a strange sense of fondness well up inside her at the thought of their previous owner. Fai had, despite everything he had done to her, been a very good person at heart. "I hope I'm doing the right thing." She whispered softly, as her hands stilled suddenly. She stared at the silver blades for a long while.

"Where did you get those?" Chii's soft voice broke her out of her reverie. Turning around, Sakura found herself staring at the brown-eyed girl with delicate pixie-like features, the very features that she herself had adopted when she had been escaping from those hunters on Koryo when she had run into Kurogane for the first time.

"Chii."She greeted her blond friend, but the other girl's eyes were fixated on the jewel-encrusted blades in her hand.

"Where did you get those, Sakura?" She repeated, her tone taking on an edge of hysteria. "They were… they belonged to… where the heck did you get them?"

"Chii, calm down." Sakura held up her hands as she stepped closer to her friend.

"Where?"Chii repeated desperately.

"A…"Sakura paused, wondering what to tell her. What had that blond man been to her? A companion? Mentor? Guardian? "A friend gave them to me before he helped me escape from hell." she finally decided. Fai had been a friend to her after all. She never knew what became of him though. But if Fai- no, Yuui- was to be believed, then the man that had helped her all those cycles ago was dead.

"Was he the man I saw when I called you?" Chii asked, referring to the time she had contacted Sakura to discuss the stolen files. Chii's reaction at that time had been what had prompted Sakura to confront Fai- no, Yuui, that man was Yuui, Fai's twin brother who had for some unfathomable reason chosen to parade around as his dead brother- on the matter.

"No, that was someone else."

"Yuui?"Chii whispered softly, a dejected ring to her tone.

"Yeah. But he decided to go around as Fai." Sakura nodded. It seemed Chii was still unaware of the other twin's fate then. But… how did she know the two? Fai- _Yuui_ had obviously lied to her when she had asked."Chii… How exactly do you know those two?"

"How do I know them?" Chii laughed mirthlessly. "How do I know them? Those two idiots were my brothers…"

"What?"

"My cousins, actually…" Chii clarified, "but my dad adopted them both."

-0-

"_What the hell?" Touya noticed a petite blond girl storm up to the pilot, her chocolate colored eyes flashing in anger. "I thought you were too busy with your research work to actually leave your lab when I asked you to come shopping with me. What are you doing at the space port?"_

"_Umm… Do I know you?"_

"_This isn't funny, Fai." The girl frowned. "And what's with your outfit? Why are you dressed up like a Goth? And when did you get a haircut? Not that I don't like this style or anything, but-"_

"_I'm really sorry to interrupt you, but seriously, miss, do I know you?" The girl stopped her tirade and scrutinized his face closely with a small frown. She must have realized something because the next minute she bowed to him, hastily stepping out of his personal space. "Oh God, this is so embarrassing." She blushed in embarrassment, "I'm so sorry to bother you, sir. I thought you were someone else."_

_Yuui laughed, waving his hand dismissively. "It's alright, Miss…?"_

"_Chii." She straightened, holding out her hand for a shake, "ChiiFlourite."_

"_Yuui." He shook her hand, grinning amicably. "Can I ask you something, Miss Chii?"_

"_Go ahead."_

"_You said I look like someone you know. Can I ask who?"_

"_My dumbass brother." She answered with a sheepish smile. "You two look so similar, it's kinda scary to tell you the truth. When I spotted you a few minutes ago, I could have sworn you were Fai. He can be a real goof sometimes, though he gets all serious when it's something related his work, but-" the girl stopped chattering when she noticed that the blue-eyed blond had stopped a few feet behind her, "uh, Yuui, everything okay? You look like you've just seen a ghost."_

"_Did you say his name was Fai?"_

"_Yeah, Fai D. Flourite." She nodded, appearing somewhat confused._

-0-

"The first time I met Yuui," Chii smiled softly, "I made a complete idiot out of myself. Fai had been forbidden to ever speak of his twin when he was exiled from his home planet, so I never even knew he had a twin until I bumped into Yuui at the spaceport. Those two had a very rough childhood. Yuui never really spoke about it, but even after his people banished Fai, Yuui was never really treated nicely."

"Why not?" Sakura asked.

"Beats me. All I ever managed to get out of either of them was 'because we bear the curse of the twins'. Sounds quite silly, no?" Chii settled on Sakura's bed, her eyes fixated on the twin blades in Sakura's hands. "Their whole lives revolved around that curse, though."

"He had just arrived on Celes, and he really had no idea where to go. He said he was looking for a long-lost relative since his mother had passed away and he had no place to stay. Feeling sorry for him, I invited him to our home for dinner."

-0-

"_Dad, I'm home." Chii announced as she opened the door to a modest-looking apartment, taking her shoes off and placing them in a small wooden rack next to the door. "There's someone I'd like for you to meet."_

"_Someone for me to meet?" A voice floated out from one of the inner rooms. "So, you finally decided to bring your boyfriend to meet me, eh?"_

"_Dad!"Chii yelled, her face uncannily resembling a tomato. "I'm never bringing Hideki over if you're going to try and embarrass me every chance you get."_

"_That's what fathers are for, sweetheart." Her father laughed, "Bring your friend to the kitchen, will you? Your brother still had some last minute things to add to his project, so he asked me to watch the soup for him."_

_Somewhere in the apartment, a door opened. "Guys, can you keep the noise down? I'm working here!"_

"_That's the idiotic brother I told you about." she said to Yuui as she led him down the hallway and through a comfortably furnished living room. A documentary about Flourite and its magical properties was playing on the Holo-TV._

"_Will he be joining us for dinner?" Yuui asked, his voice carrying a hint of hopefulness._

"_No idea. When he's in one of his _fits,_ he forgets about pretty much everything else. I literally have to shove food down his throat when a deadline for one of his projects is near."_

"_I see."_

"_Make yourself at home, alright?" she said, gesturing towards the sofa cluttered with books and something that resembled a blanket. "I'll go get Dad." Touya watched silently as the girl quickly stuffed her arms with whatever she could pick up and hurried out the door to their right. A short while later, he heard the girl, Chii yell once again, "Fai! Dinner is about done. Get your lazy butt down here! We have a guest over. Go keep him company for a bit." Looking over at Yuui, he noticed that the blond teen appeared nervous._

"_I'm busy." Fai shouted back and Touya wondered vaguely why all the members of that household liked to yell so much._

"_Faiii!"Chii screamed before a door was slammed open and then shut quickly, followed by a muffled argument. A couple of minutes later, the door reopened and Touya heard the soft padding of bare feet against the wooden floor as someone approached the door. Apparently the Yuui in the memory had heard it as well, since he quickly jumped to his feet as soon as his mirror image walked into the room. A spark of blue magic flew from Yuui towards Fai, before everything in the room began to shake at the intensity of the magic that began to gather in the mediocre living room._

-0-

"They nearly blew up the living room when they first met. It had been almost thirteen cycles since they had last been together." Chii said, her fingers softly tracing the blue phoenixes. "Everyone was shocked to see Yuui, but I was kinda furious at the time. My adoptive brother had a twin and I never even knew about him. It took a lot of explaining from Dad and Fai to get me to calm down again. Fai and I never got to hear what Yuui went through, but whatever he told Dad, my father decided to take him in as well. Even though he could fly a ship better than most professionals, he was still a minor at the time and he didn't have any place to go."

"How did Fai end up working for Fei Wong?"

"So that's the name of the bastard." Chii spat bitterly. "My dad got an offer from him first, since his work in magic was well known all over Celes. He refused the first time around, but the bastard blackmailed him into joining some research facility. We all began seeing less and less of Dad after that, though he quit his job about a cycle later. Things began to return to normal though he started getting sick all the time until..."

-0-

"_Chii, honey," A pale skinned man with dark, midnight-black hair that reached past his shoulders walked out into the living room. The brown-eyed blond quickly switched off the Holo-TV and jumped to her feet. "Go to the market and buy some Raki fruit for dinner, will you?"_

"_Why not send Yuui instead?" she pouted, making her way towards the door despite her complaint._

"_Because, unlike you," Said blond piped up smugly, "I'm not in danger of growing fat if I keep on being a couch potato."_

"_What?" Chii rounded on the other teen, her eyes flashing in anger. "Just because your magic burns off all those extra calories you consume does _not_ mean you can be lazy all the time!"_

"_He'll be going with you." The dark haired man cut in before Yuui could retort._

"_What?"Yuui yelped, looking at the man in horror. "You're sending me _shopping_ with Chii? What did I ever do to deserve such torture?"_

"_Woohoo! I'm not going alone!" The girl did a little dance step before grabbing hold of the blond's hand. "Let's go!"_

"_Be nice to your sister, Yuui." The man reprimanded with a smile, "You can go remind your brother about dinner. I think he's at… What was that kid's name? Oh, yes. He's at Masayoshi's house."_

"_But he still goes shopping with me first, right?" Chii grinned at her father before dragging her brother out the door without even waiting for a response._

"_Hey, wait a minute! Uncle never said anything about me going shopping with you." Yuui protested._

_The memory shifted and Touya found himself back in the Flourite residence. The living room appeared to be in a state of disarray, but the thing that immediately caught his attention was the figure sprawled out on the floor in a shallow pool of blood._

-0-

"As it turned out, the people Dad had quit working for didn't like being turned down the way Dad had. They decided to pay him a visit. To make an example out of him for others. I think Dad knew they were coming for him. That was probably why he sent us out of the house at that time."

-0-

"_Dad!Uncle!" Three simultaneous cries pierced the air as the three teens rushed towards the fallen man._

-0-

"After Dad, they went after Fai." Chii said, her fingers curling around the daggers as she held them close to her heart. "I don't know what they offered him in exchange, but whatever it was, it caused a huge row between Fai and Yuui. Sure, they used to argue before as well… I loved to make the two bicker with each other, but never before had they resorted to hitting each other. I wasn't there when it happened but…"

-0-

_The memory shifted once more and Touya found himself looking at the twins. They appeared to be in the middle of a heated argument._

"_I'm not going to let you do it, Fai."_

"_You don't have any say in this matter, Yuui."_

"_Do you even realize what you're saying?" Yuui half-yelled._

"_I know what I'm doing."_

"_Taking up that bastard's offer is nothing but suicide!"_

"_They're willing to pay for Dad's treatment."_

"_You know as well as I that Uncle Ashura's condition is because of them. Joining them won't do him any good."_

"_It'll keep him alive!"_

"_Do you think Uncle would want to live a life like that?" Yuui yelled angrily._

"_I'm not going to let him die!" Fai snarled._

"_He'd rather die than have you become a slave to those bastards!"_

"_Shut up, Yuui!" Touya was just as shocked as the twins when Fai punched his brother in the face. Yuui lay on the ground, stunned as Fai towered over him, breathing hard. "You have no idea of what would have happened to me if he had not taken me in." He whispered harshly. "You were living an easy life back in Valeria. How would you know anything?"_

"_I don't know anything?" Yuui hissed venomously, his legs kicking his twin's out from underneath him. Jumping to his feet, Yuui crouched over Fai, his eyes narrowed in rage as he picked the other off of the ground by the collar of his shirt. "You were lucky you got exiled, Fai. My life was _anything_ but easy. Being shunned by everyone around me because I was born a magical twin... 'Don't go near the prince. You'll catch his curse. He's the reason we're facing the droughts. Our crops are dead because the prince is an evil child. He's cursed his own mother!' Their whispers followed me wherever I went. But then again," he laughed bitterly, dropping the other's collar, "compared to you, my life must have been pretty easy."_

"_Shut up!" Fai yelled angrily, kicking the other blond back on the ground, "Just shut up! I don't want to hear about it. Ashura is like a father to me. He took me in when everyone else wanted me dead. He treated me like a human being. Not some… exiled, plagued prince."_

"_In other words, you don't care what happens to you?" Yuui growled heatedly, glaring angrily at his twin from his position on the ground._

"_I don't." Fai responded without missing a beat."I'm not going to let him die like that."_

"…"

"_You won't understand." Fai said after a while, as he turned his back towards the blond, "You weren't there… You never were."_

"…_I guess you're right." Yuui climbed to his feet gingerly, walking past Fai with his head bowed low. "I'm sorry I tried to care about what happens to you."_

-0-

"Whatever went on between those two that night, Yuui left the next morning. His letter said he was going back to work with his mentor. It was around that time that I started developing an interest in cyber tech. Fai went away to work on some top-secret project, leaving me alone to take care of Dad. The money was good, though. Dad spent his last days in comfort. I lost contact with Fai half a cycle later, right after Dad passed away. He didn't even show up at the funeral. Yuui came, though, even if he left an hour after the burial. Yuuko was an acquaintance of my father. When she learnt of my skills as a hacker, she offered me a job here on Infinity. I kept searching for them both even after I came here, but until now… I thought they had both died."

-0-

"_I'm so sorry for your loss." It was a bright, sunny day, but the atmosphere of the small gathering was somber. Men and women dressed in pale, silver clothes lined around the edges with crimson, blue, and gold walked up to the one of the twins, Touya suspected it to be Yuui since that was who this memory belonged to, and Chii. The adoptive brother and sister were standing next to a mound of freshly-dug earth. They were the only ones there that were dressed in deep blue clothes. Chii's eyes were puffy and bloodshot and even as she accepted condolences from those that had gathered there, tears continued to flow, unhindered, down her pale cheeks._

"_He didn't show up." Yuui stated dully after a man expressed his sympathy for their loss and left._

"_No." Chii sobbed weakly as a beautiful woman with pale features and dark, raven-colored hair walked up to them. She was dressed in a pale silk blouse and a pencil skirt, the pencil heels of her shoes digging into the slightly damp earth as she approached them, though it did not make her any less graceful as she stopped before the two._

"_Your father was good man, Chii. I'm very sorry that you lost such a wonderful father. He loved you very much."_

"_Thank you, Miss…" she trailed off, trying to put a name to the woman's face._

"_Ichihara. Yuuko Ichihara." The woman responded with a polite smile, "Hello,Yuui." She looked at the blue-eyed teen._

"_Miss Yuuko," he nodded politely, indicating that he knew the woman from somewhere, "How did you know my uncle?"_

"_We go a long way back." She responded with a cryptic smile before turning her attention to the girl. "Ashura told me about your skills,Chii. I know this is not the ideal time to say such a thing, but I have to leave shortly and I might not be able to come here again in the near future. I have a spot open for someone like you in my firm." She pulled out a small card from the handbag she was carrying, handing it to the slightly surprised looking girl. "Contact me if you are interested, alright?" She turned and left after passing a gentle smile to the girl._

"_You should take her offer." Yuui said quietly once the woman was out of earshot._

"_What? Why?"_

"_Working for her would be good for you." He answered. "Besides, I'm afraid I won't be around much after today."_

"…_."_

"_You should go. There isn't anything left here for you."_

_The memory shifted once again. The Yuui sitting at the counter of the bar appeared several cycles older than the last memory. A man wearing a pair of spectacles approached the blond. Taking a seat next to him, the newcomer ordered a drink before looking over at the man hunched over a drink._

"_Yuui Valeria, am I correct?" the newcomer said, taking off his glasses to reveal stormy grey eyes. Tucking the specs into an inner pocket of his jacket, he smiled. "Kyle Rondart." He grinned, offering his hand for a shake._

_**A/N: And so it begins. Well what do you think? Personally speaking, my favorite part in this whole chapter was the fight between Fai and Yuui. I mean seriously, despite everything, a normal person can't love another, even their twin that unconditionally. This resentment makes them a bit more human, no? What do you think? What was the part that you liked the most in this chapter? Hmm… one more memory filled chapter left to go. **_

_**Okay so normally I tend to decide stuff on my own but for some reason, I want to know what you guys want to happen next. Here's a few questions that I'd like for you all to answer, k?**_

_**How do you think will they find Syaoran? **_

_**Should Sakura go along for the rescue? If she does, then should there be a fight between the cold Syaoran and Sakura?**_

_**What should happen to Fai once he's done showing them the memories? There are still a few things left that will explain why he did what he did to Syaoran but some of you might have been able to guess by now. What should Kuro's reaction be like? And Tomoyo's?**_

_**Hmm… can't really think of anything else for now but if you guys have any more ideas, feel free to let me know. Until next time.**_

_**-Nims**_


	36. Leaping to the Past Part 3

_**A/N: Finally, the last part of Fai's memories is done. A big Thank you to everyone who reviewed and left suggestions in their reviews last chapter. I'll be asking those questions at the end once again since the whole story will unfold in this one, so I would ask you all to leave your suggestions one more time, this time keeping in mind what happens next. **_

_**Enjoy!**_

"Yuui Valeria, am I correct?" the newcomer said, taking off his glasses to reveal stormy, grey eyes. Tucking the specs into an inner pocket of his jacket, he smiled. "Kyle Rondart." He grinned, offering his hand for a shake.

"_Why did you want to meet with me?" Yuui asked coolly as he downed a shot and waved at the bartender to bring him another._

"_Your brother spoke very highly of you." Kyle answered with a grin._

"_Fai?"_

"_Yes, Mr. Fai Flourite was working with our company on a top-secret project."_

"_So you're part of that bastard's team."Yuui dug into the pocket of his jacket and pulled out a few coins. Dropping them on the counter, he got to his feet. "I'm not interested in listening to your crap."_

"_Fai was caught in an accident in our lab a few months back." Yuui froze a few steps away, "We've been giving him the best treatment so far, but…"_

"_You…" Shaking with rage, the blond turned around to face the man. Kyle simply flashed him a smirk before taking a sip from his drink. "You fucking bastard!" The glass shattered as it fell to the floor, the cubes of ice and shards of the broken container flying every which way as the drink splashed across the floor and the lower part of the counter. The chatter around the bar died down as heads turned in their direction._

"_Careful, now," Kyle said silkily as he made to pry the blonde's hands from his shirt's collar. "We don't want your actions to affect your brother's health, now, do we?" The veiled threat seemed to take the fight out from Yuui as he let the man go. "That's much better. Now, how about you buy me a drink, hmm? Seeing as you made me spill mine…We can discuss the business proposition in a more private setting." _

"_Tch… is everyone in your company so stingy?"Yuui said acidly as he motioned for the bartender to come over. "Get him a drink, Poison, if you have some."_

_The bartender looked over to Kyle in surprise who merely grinned back. "He means Boizon. And make it two."_

"_I'll pass." Yuui told the man before he could turn away, "Just get him one."_

"_Now, now," the bespectacled man laughed, "I'd appear extremely rude if I was only one that's drinking. Get him one too." He told the bartender who nodded and made a move to turn._

"_I said," Yuui said forcefully, glaring at Kyle through narrowed eyes, stopping the rotund bartender in his tracks, "I'll pass." The man nodded once again, about to go retrieve the order when Kyle stopped him. "But I insist."_

"_I'm the one that's buying it." Yuui grit out, stopping the exasperated bartender yet again. "And I. Don't. Want. Any."_

"_No, really-"_

"_Can you two lovebirds make up your mind already?" the bartender burst out angrily, "I have other customers to tend to as well you know. I'll leave you to settle your tiff at your own accord. Call me back once you've decided."_

"_Just one Boizon, thank you," Yuui flashed the red-faced man a thousand-watt smile as he slammed a considerable amount of money on the counter top. "And if we could have a private booth, perhaps?" The man looked at the two suspiciously for a while before taking the money. He signaled one of the waiters over. _

"_He'll show you to the booth." The bartender told them, still giving them the suspicious eye, "But I'd prefer it if you don't do any funny business in there. Your drink will be with you shortly."_

_The memory faded around Touya before solidifying once again into a pleasantly lit booth. A poison-green curtain separated the cubicle from the rest of the bar. _

"_Your brother didn't want us to approach you when he signed the contract with us." Kyle seemed to be saying, "I can't really understand why, though. You're a powerful and rather talented mage, from what I can tell. The hue of your eyes is even stronger than your brother's, so I would bet that your magic is stronger than Fai's. We value our employees very much, however, and since he wished for it to be that way… We would have left you alone too, had it not been for his accident." Kyle added. "He was a valuable asset to our organization. Just like his adoptive father. I'm really sorry about Lord Ashura, by the way. A little late for condolences, but-"_

"_Cut to the chase." Yuui interrupted the rambling man, "we both know your act isn't fooling anyone."_

"_Alright then," Kyle's smile turned cold and sadistic. He reached for something in his coat's pocket. "If that's how you want it." Climbing to his feet, Kyle threw a small info-cube at Yuui, who caught it. Downing the rest of his drink, the man adjusted his spectacles before continuing as he set the glass on the table. "The details are in there. Meet me at the given address next week. We can discuss everything else then." He turned to leave, stopping by the curtain, "Thanks for the drink by the way."_

_Yuui pocketed the device, grumbling under his breath as he too climbed to his feet. Touya strained to hear what he was saying as the memory began to shift._

"… _-cking stingy prick had to pick the most expensive drink on the-…"_

"_You do realize this is a top-secret project," Touya found himself standing in a rather rundown type of bar this time. He might have guessed it to be someplace on Infinity as he took in the sight of various touch-com tabletops placed around the settlement. The only thing that made him think otherwise wasthe crimson bat insignia decorating various objects in the place. Bars in Infinity carried the insignia of an obsidian butterfly. This establishment belonged to Fei Wong Reed._

"_I know." Yuui's voice sounded far too soft and it made Touya feel surprisingly angry. The voice belonged to a person who seemed to have given up and resigned himself to his fate._

"_So you know we won't be letting you in without a proper initiation." The bespectacled man pressed on._

"_I do." Again, the same despondent voice greeted Touya's ears._

"_Good," Kyle nodded, appearing satisfied and somewhat smug. "That's good. Wouldn't want you complaining about not knowing what you were getting into later on, would we now?" _

"_Of course," Yuui acquiesced, turning his head to the right to signal a barmaid over to their table for some drinks._

"_So you have no problem in submitting yourself to Lord Fei?"Kyle confirmed, his grey eyes closely observing the blonde for any signs of rebellion or resistance._

"_If that is what I must do," Yuui responded as the maid returned with a couple of bottles. His answer seemed to have satisfied Kyle who grinned widely, grabbing a bottle and twisting it open._

"_Wonderful." He held it up to Yuui as a toast. "Lord Fei will be personally testing you the day after tomorrow in that case." He informed the blond as he got up. "I'm afraid I have to run now." With that, he left, leaving Yuui sitting alone at the table, clutching his drink. Touya expected the memory to change once again as the blue-eyed blond lowered his head in defeat. Yet he was proven wrong. There was nothing but silence all around them for a long while as the memory refused to change, making the hunter suspect that maybe the spell had malfunctioned somehow. He was proven wrong once more when the bottle in the blonde's hands shattered into millions of tiny pieces, spilling the beverage inside all across the tabletop. A barmaid hurried towards him but Yuui waved her off with a bleeding hand as he left the bar. It seemed to be raining full blast outside, but the mage did not seem to care as he walked right out into it. He kept on walking for a while before turning into an alleyway. The force of his punch nearly made a hole in the brick wall as Yuui's magic crackled all around him, the rain hissing and spluttering as it came into contact with the powerful aura._

"_Fai…" he whispered harshly, "You fucking idiot!" A garbage can to their left exploded, "Signing away your life to protect mine…" Yuui continued as thunder crackled across the sky, another trash can exploding further down the alley way. "Did you forget I'd do the same in a heartbeat for you?" Yuui slumped to his knees, letting out a heart wrenching cry as he let his magic run wild, wreaking havoc on the world around him, letting everything feel his inner turmoil. The memory finally changed._

_They were standing in a wide, open courtyard. It appeared to be an obstacle course of some sort. One that had been completely decimated using magic. The sky appeared to be overcast with dark clouds, occasional flashes of lightning and the rolling thunder heralding an approaching storm. Perhaps this was a memory from Yuui's time of initiation?_

"_Impressive, very impressive," Touya heard a rough, gravelly voice that despite having heard only once before in his life, at the time of his initiation into the ranks of the hunters, Touya had come to hate above all others. Lord Fei Wong Reed._

"_I'm glad you approve," Yuui's voice depicted nothing but serenity and composure. None of the inner turmoil that Touya had witnessed in the last memory showed through. This man was a brilliant actor. Heck, even as Touya looked into the blonde's eyes-the very mirrors to a person's soul and true feelings, Touya could not tell anything. Yuui bowed politely towards the Bat Lord before straightening up, carelessly dusting his clothes as he did so._

"_I do," Lord Fei nodded, no doubt pleased with what he saw as he motioned for the man to follow him. Turning around, the Bat Lord walked out of the courtyard, Yuui right behind him. "You will make a fine servant. Kyle," It was then that the hunter noticed that the bespectacled man from the previous few memories had joined the other two, "I would like to oversee his initiation myself."_

"_Of course, my Lord," Kyle bowed low._

"_I have some free time on my hands," Lord Fei spoke, looking over at Yuui who had a pleasant smile plastered across his features. This blond bastard was a very good actor indeed. Just hearing Fei's voice was enough to set Touya's teeth on the edge. He knew, had he been in that position, he'd never even have been able to pass a constipated smile towards that man, let alone grin like that idiot was doing in the memory. "Why not initiate Yuui here right now?"_

"_As you wish, my Lord," Kyle bowed once again before leaving. No doubt to make preparations for the initiation._

_The memory changed to that of a dark room. Touya heard the rain pound against the glass windowpanes, occasional flashes of lightening illuminating the room enough for the hunter to make out the shirtless silhouette of a hunched-over Yuui sitting on a bare bed. Touya saw the tattoo of a phoenix inked across the mage's back, marking him as a descendant of the now near-extinct royal line of Valeria. On his shoulder, overlapping with the wings of the phoenix, was another tattoo. A tattoo Touya was all too familiar with, the tattoo that Fei Wong used to control mages. So this was how the pilot had sold himself off into servitude to that bastard. _

"_Don't worry, Fai," the blond whispered so softly, it was a wonder Touya heard him against the battering rainstorm in the first place. "No matter what I have to do, I swear I'll get you out of this place."_

_The answer to this 'no matter what' arrived in the form of the next memory. It was a cold room, roughly rectangular in shape that was partially enshrouded in darkness. In the middle of the space was a raised metal platform. The brown haired brat that had offered Touya water on his first night aboard _Little Dragon _was strapped to the table top. He did not appear any older than thirteen cycles at most, but he was struggling furiously, shouting angry threats at the other men present in the room._

"_I did not know that the subject was just a child."Yuui remarked in a slightly surprised tone which managed to somehow mask the anger that shone in his brilliant blue eyes. The only way the other two men missed it was due to the fact that they were too busy observing the young boy as he futilely struggled to free himself._

"_Will that be a problem, Yuui?"Lord Fei turned to scrutinize the blond, who had by then put his brilliant acting skills to use and formed an indecipherable mask to hide his feelings._

"_Of course not, my Lord." Yuui shook his head, managing to even pass an apathetic smile to the despicable man, "I have no personal ties to the boy." Behind him, Touya heard Kurogane swear angrily and it was then that he realized that he wasn't the only one viewing these memories._

"_Good," Lord Fei grunted, seemingly satisfied with what he saw. "Let's begin, then." Handing the blond a fragile-looking, jagged-edge knife he motioned towards the brunette strapped to the surgical table, "You can start with the first part of the seal."_

_The memory changed as Touya heard sounds of violent retching._

"_Oh God," Yuui moaned as he leaned against the toilet bowl, wiping his mouth with the back of his hand. He appeared somewhat sick, his features gaunt and drawn, his eyes haunted, the pale skin stretching over the bones of his cheeks appearing waxy in the brilliant light of the fluorescent tube overhead. "I wish I could free that child…" He breathed out weakly, making no move to get away from where he was. "I wish I could... but if I must choose… oh, Fai… this is what you had to face every day… Oh God! I had been such an idiot!" He punched the toilet bowl, the ceramic cracking underneath his fist. "All this time… I never even tried to check up on you… blinded by my own bitter resentment… I had failed to see it back then…" He turned a bit away from the toilet to lean against the wall, hitting the back of his head against the ceramic tile, emitting a dull thunk. "You only said those things to protect me… from this." Another thunk. "But now… I'm here anyways." A couple of tears leaked from his eyes as the blond clenched them shut, hitting the back of his head against the wall. "I wish I could save you both… But that isn't a possibility, is it?"_

_The memory faded away, along with the sickly looking Yuui._

"_I've been here for almost a cycle. I think I have _earned_ the right to finally see Fai." Yuui growled angrily, his eyes narrowed into slits as he glared at Kyle. The blond mage had the other pinned against a cobblestone wall in what was probably a corridor that led to the dungeons of the facility. The room where he had seen the two along with Yuui and that brunette had to be a dungeon._

"_You're still in a rather volatile state of mind, Yuui." Kyle said in that infuriatingly calm tone of his, "I don't think seeing your brother's state would help you any. Especially with our project entering such a delicate phase recently."_

"_How do I know you're not lying?" Yuui hissed venomously, his aura beginning to form a visible blue glow around his body, making it steam. Touya knew how the seal worked. The restrictive design made it impossible for the mage having the seal to use magic unless it was for something that Fei had commissioned. If somehow a mage was able to do so despite all that, it was designed to burn whatever part of the body the magic originated from. For it to form a visible aura around the blond, that must hurt like hell. The steam was proof of that. But Yuui continued glaring at the other man like it was nothing. "How do I even know you bastards have Fai? For all I know, he might not even be here."_

"_You can feel it, can't you?" Kyle answered with a sly grin. "Magical auras, especially ones as strong as your brother's, are impossible to fake. And with you being his twin, you would have been able to tell if it wasn't the real deal, no? Fai is receiving the best possible care that our doctors have to offer. I've told you already. He is a valuable asset to our project. We can't afford to lose someone like him."_

_As Yuui dropped the bespectacled man, the memory hazed away and reformed into a solid dungeon. Yuui stepped through the magical barrier preventing passage of unauthorized personnel, to approach a curled-up form in one of the corners of the dungeon._

"_Hello, little one." He said softly, digging into the pocket of his jeans before revealing a bar of chocolate. Slowly approaching the boy that seemed to curl even more into himself, Yuui sat down a few feet away from him. "How are you doing today?" he said, unwrapping the bar before setting it down on the floor halfway between him and the brunette. "That bastard, Kyle…" he said quietly, watching as the boy raised his head to take in the sight of chocolate. His previously dull amber eyes conjured a small spark of life as he hesitantly reached for the treat. "He refused to let me go see my brother again." The boy quickly snatched it away from the floor, as though afraid it would be taken away if he wasn't fast enough. But the time it had taken him to retrieve the confection had been enough for Touya to take in the sight of the dark, wing-like tattoos marking the inside of the boy's arm. _

"_Sad…" the boy said softly as he bit into the chocolate, once again sitting with his back pressed against the wall, "You… sad…" he said, observing the blond through those big eyes of his. His hair was a shaggy mess atop his head, his skin somewhat pale and sickly looking, yet for some reason, his body appeared well fed and rather strong._

"_You can tell, huh?"Yuui laughed mirthlessly, leaning back with the palms of his hands pressed against the floor. "I guess I shouldn't be surprised. The seal allows you to feel emotions after all."_

"…" _The boy only took another bite of his treat._

"_I wonder what that princess was like. The one who that magic belongs to." The blond mused quietly, "She must have been a nice girl, ne?"_

"…_He feels sad too." The brunette told him all of a sudden. "Alone… Helpless…Dead."_

"_No…" Yuui gasped breathlessly, staring at the boy, but he was once again busy nibbling at his chocolate. Hastily stumbling to his feet, Yuui raced out of the dungeon, the memory phasing and shifting as he left the cell._

_A muffled yell followed by the dull thud of a body hitting the floor alerted Touya that something was amiss in this memory. A second later he saw Yuui dragging the unconscious body of a guard across the pristine floor of what appeared to be a medical ward and into a closet. Touya followed after the blond just like he had done in the previous memories when Yuui had moved from one place to another and found himself standing in a dully lit room. A red glow emanated from the floor below them, illuminating what appeared to be a solitary, cylindrical tank in the middle of the room. Bubbles floated up from the bottom of the tank towards the top, casting strange shadows across the features of the body floating inside the transparent liquid. Glowing red runes circled around the tank as two discs of gold twisted on their axis in the opposite directions above and below the floating tank. A rectangular screen projecting various charts and percentages was visible on one of the side walls of the room. But Yuui's attention seemed to be focused on the cylinder._

"_No…" he gasped yet again, taking a hesitant step towards the tank. As Touya stepped closer, he realized that the person floating inside was an exact replica of the one standing before it, with the only difference being that while Yuui's face was stricken with grief and panic, the other's was relaxed in sleep and unconsciousness. Something appeared to be wrong with the tank though. Looking back to observe the vitals charts that were displayed in the far wall, Touya realized what it was. "No…No…" Yuui repeated, his cry growing increasingly hysterical the longer he seemed to look at the tank, "No!"_

_Touya looked back at the charts._

_Metabolism: Stable_

_Heart rate: Stable_

_Breathing: Stable_

_._

_._

_._

_._

_Magic: Stable _

_Extraction rate: 95%_

_._

_._

_._

_Brain activity: None_

_The person floating inside the tank… Fai… was not in a coma. No. There was always a chance of a person recovering from that. The chances only improved for mages. But a human being that was brain dead, even a mage… there was no coming back from that._

_Apparently, Yuui had come to the same conclusion as he collapsed on his knees, breathing raggedly as tears streamed down his ghostly, pale features. His whole body shook with suppressed rage, pain, and anguish. He sat there unmoving with his fists clenched so hard Touya could see blood seep from between the blonde's fingers, staring at the living corpse of his twin. It was a fate worse than death. These bastards had somehow killed his brain yet kept his body alive in this life support tank to have a source of powerful magic. They were using Fai like a magical powerhouse. A…a thing to generate magic._

_Fai was an important asset to their project indeed._

_So this was why they had refused to let Yuui see his brother._

"_F-forgive me, Fai…" Yuui whispered harshly as he climbed to his feet, his right hand outstretched before him with the forefinger and the middle finger sticking out and the rest of his hand clenched into a still-bleeding fist. Blue runes danced in the air as his fingers traced their patterns, glowing violet as their caster's aura clashed with the crimson one surrounding the tank. "I couldn't save you…" The spell completed, latching onto the red runes before eating through them. An alarm began to sound, but Yuui had already traced another spell to take care of that. A third spell, one that Touya recognized to be a local transportation spell, took Yuui out of the room just as it blew up in a brilliant explosion._

"_Let's get out of here, Little Wolf." Touya heard Yuui say, his blue aura crackling around him menacingly, making Touya wonder yet again just how exactly was it that this blond was turning the impossible task of using magic against the suppression seal possible. Yuui grabbed hold of a cowering Syaoran before tracing out another transportation spell, this one, surprisingly enough an interplanetary spell. Behind him he heard Yukito gasp out the word "Impossible". Yet the hunter saw it all turn possible right before his eyes as the magic took effect and they all vanished from the cell, arriving in a grassy meadow. The brilliantly shining sun was blotted out by dark clouds and for some reason Touya did not find himself surprised to know that the blonde's volatile magic had just influenced the weather to match his emotional state as lightening flashed across the sky and it began to pour violently._

_Yuui's scream of anguish would have no doubt been heard for miles as the memory began to fade away and Touya felt the spell finally end._

_**A/N: My favorite parts in this chapter were where Yuui tried to order poison for Kyle, then there was the one in the bathroom and finally the one where he had to kill Fai. Oh, did you like that little twist by the way? Who saw that coming? Fai was still alive in a way but poor Yuui had to kill him. **_

_**So now that you guys know what happened, I'll ask one more time.**_

_**What should happen to Fai now that he's done showing them the memories? What should Kuro's reaction be like? And Tomoyo's? What about Touya?**_

_**And they're probably gonna go meet Sakura in the next chapter. How should Sakura react to seeing Touya once again? And vice versa. **_

_**CHALLENGE!**_

_**Oh. Here's a little challenge for all my readers.**_

_**I want you guys to write a short scene where Touya finds out about Sakura kissing Kurogane (refer to first chapter where the two meet). You also need to write his reactions (aka accusations) to Kurogane and anything else you can come up with to make it funny.**_

_**You guys can PM me the link once you put up your snippet. The winner's work will be included in the next chapter of Shattered Secrets. They will be given full credit for their work of course.**_

_**The deadline for this challenge is until next month i.e. 1**__**st**__** September 2011.**_

_**IMPORTANT NOTICE:**_

_**I will soon be changing my penname to 'Obsidian Butterfly'.**_


	37. Reactions and Reunions?

_**A/N: So after a long wait, it's finally here.**_

_**Enjoy!**_

Touya blinked and found himself standing back in the cabin on _Mokona_. The blond lay sprawled out on the floor in front of them, but he seemed to be pushing himself into a sitting position using his shaking arms. Before any of them could move, Tomoyo was upon the blond, her action seemingly surprising even her fiancé as she decked the pilot on his head. Her shoulders were shaking as she stared at Yuui, her back to them all as the pilot stared back at her.

"Kurgy is having a really bad influence on you, Tomoyo." The blond said softly as he looked up at the medic, "You've become violent."

"You… You idiot!" she cried, flinging her arms around his neck as she fell to her knees right in front of him. Even the pilot was surprised as she began sobbing into his shoulder. Although he flinched from the pain that her actions seemed to be causing him, he did not voice any protests as she wept. "Going through all that without even saying a word…"

"There wasn't anything to say, Tomoyo." He replied quietly and Touya found himself internally agreeing with the blond. Had he not forced them to view his memories, those two had been just about willing to kill him if they had not needed to use him to find the brat.

"You're not any less of an idiot than your twin." The red-eyed captain spoke up. "I know why you lied to us. I'd have gone after those bastards in a heartbeat had I known. Heck, I'd go after those fucking bastards right now if I could!"

"I was afraid you'd say that…" Yuui murmured weakly, appearing rather sick. He flinched once again, though his eyes didn't stray from the captain's face.

"That tattoo on your shoulder, isn't there something you can do about it?"

"I could die." He laughed weakly. "It might be better than suffering through… but I don't think I can die right now. I still have to get Syaoran away from there. I swore I would." Touya looked the blond up and down, somehow doubting he'd even be able to stand up on his own in his current state, let alone go rescue the brat.

"Idiot!" This time, the punch came from Kurogane.

Touya watched in morbid amusement as the pilot clutched his head in pain. If the blond didn't die because of his magic warring with the seal upon his body, he'd most definitely die from all the hits to the head he was taking. "You're in no condition to go anywhere. Just look at yourself. You look like you could drop dead any second."

"I sure feel like it." The addressed man chuckled humorlessly. "But…"

"As much as I hate to say this…" Kurogane interrupted him, "you need to get some rest first. The kid can wait."

"Syaoran shares a special bond with Sakura." The pilot said as Kurogane helped him climb to his feet. "She was a part of a similar project as Syaoran. I'm sure she'd be able to locate him through that bond."

"Wait a minute…" Touya narrowed his eyes, his mind quickly making the connections between various unintelligible terms he had come across during his browsing of the files he had seen in Sakura's laptop. "Are you telling me my sister went through all the same stuff we just saw happening to the brat?"

"Touya…" Yukito warned quietly as he noticed the steadily declining condition of the pilot who appeared to be frighteningly pale, his skin losing color rather quickly, "Maybe we should find out where he sent Sakura-chan first."

Touya opened his mouth to protest but the blond pilot spoke up, his breathing growing labored by the second, "Infinity." He gasped out just as the ex-captain, Kurogane, noticed his condition and rushed forward to help him, "She works for Yuuko Ichihara so I sent her there." His blue eyes rolled to the back of his head as he passed out in a dead faint.

-0-

Sakura paced the length of her room, feeling an inexplicable terror in her gut, the feeling causing her intestines to twist and turn into knots. She could somehow tell, though… the feelings were not her own.

"Sakura? Are you awake?" Chiii knocked on the door to her room, her quiet voice drifting through the sheet of metal.

"Couldn't sleep?" Sakura asked softly as she unlocked the door.

"No," the petite blond shook her head, "you neither?"

"I'm feeling so restless again." Sakura admitted, leading the blond back into her abode. "I know Yuuko told me to wait here, but…"

"But you want to be out there looking for him?" Chiii filled in the sentence when the information thief herself trailed off into silence.

"I finally remember who I am, Chiii." Sakura looked at her long-time friend through emerald eyes that were glazed over with unshed tears. "After all these cycles of searching, I know who I am."

"Princess Sakura of Clow."Chiii said slowly, as though testing how the words sounded when spoken out loud.

"A princess…" The brunette chuckled mirthlessly, "who would have thought?"

"Sakura, you've got to have a bit of faith in Yuuko." Chiii placed her arm around the girl's shoulders, pulling her into a sidelong hug, "There must be a reason why she asked you to stay here for a few days, don't you think?"

"I know that." Sakura leaned into the comforting hug of her friend, "I just… He's the only family I've got left now."

"I can understand how you feel, Sakura." The blond spoke softly, "it's a wonder I still haven't stolen a ship and gone out to search for that stupid cousin of mine already. I was a few cycles younger than you when I last saw him."

"I'm also worried about Syaoran and the others. Fai… Yuui sent me away. I can only hope the others managed to get away as well."

"Syaoran is the one that's called Xiao Lang in the files, right?" Chiii asked as she bit her lip.

"Yeah."

"Did you ever get around to reading the data in its entirety?" The blond looked almost hesitant as she asked this.

"No." Sakura shook her head, "I only just barely skimmed over my own files."

"I see." Did she look almost relieved after she had heard the answer?

"Why, what is it?" Sakura decided to press the issue a little, noticing how her friend grew a little tense before slumping in resignation.

"Well… If you had read the files," Chii spoke, unconsciously biting her lip in nervousness, "you would have known that Syaoran actually has part of your magic inside him."

"My magic?" Sakura repeated before frowning thoughtfully. "I see… so that's why."

"What?"

"Huh? Oh… nothing. It's nothing." The green-eyed girl waved her friend off.

"You sure?" Chili looked torn between believing her and trying to force her into answering. On a subconscious level, now that Sakura thought about it, it seemed as though she had always been aware of it. Why else would Syaoran and his magic have felt so familiar? Why else would a complete stranger's aura caress her own in such a-dare she think it?-intimate manner? Why else would Sakura feel this overwhelming urge to leave everything behind and go search for him, no matter the price.

"Yeah. I, er… I think I should get some sleep now. Yuuko is probably gonna need us in the morning."

Despite the fact that Sakura had claimed wanting to sleep only to be left alone by her friend, she ended up falling asleep within minutes of the blonde's departure.

-0-

"Calm down, Touya," the hunter heard his best friend say as Touya anxiously paced around the cabin.

"Calm down? How can I calm down, Yuki? We'll be there in an hour, and Sakura…"

"I'm sure your sister will be willing to give you a chance to explain everything."

"But she doesn't remember me! To her, I'm nothing more than a hunter."

"I'm sure she'll give you a chance." The bespectacled man shook his head once before returning his attention to the controls. "Why don't you go ahead and talk to Kurogane-san and Tomoyo-san for a while? Maybe talking about Sakura-chan with them might help you a little."

"…."

"You could always ask about how she behaved around them. How she met them, or something along those lines. If you know about her current personality a bit more, I'm sure you'll be able to come up with a good way to handle the situation when you actually do meet with her."

And so it was upon the suggestion of his best friend that the hunter found himself walking to the cabin that was occupied by the ex-captain and his medic/fiancé.

Tomoyo offered to bring him some of the juice she had just given Kurogane.

"Feeling nervous about seeing her again?" Tomoyo smiled knowingly as she sat down on the spare chair while the hunter took the proffered glass with a simple 'thank you'.

"… What if she isn't ready to see me yet?"

"From the short time that I have known her," Tomoyo patted his arm in a comforting gesture, "I think she's more than ready to meet you. She's been traveling in search of her identity for all these cycles. Now that we know there is someone who can actually give it to her, I'm sure she'll listen."

"But what if she doesn't trust me?" Touya sighed as he set down his glass, "It would be the most logical decision and she has been recently fooled by someone that claimed to be her long-lost cousin. Won't she think the same of me when I tell her that?"

"Somehow, I think that she'll be willing to give you a chance when you meet her."

_**A/N: A big thank you to everyone who participated in the challenge. I really liked all the submissions that were made and it was kinda hard deciding the winner. Seriously guys, judging is hard work! Anywhoo…. The winner of the challenge as I had promised earlier would have their one-shot posted as a part of the story or as an extension of the chapter itself. An omake of sorts if you will. The winner of the challenge is *drum roll* **_tilDEATH101

"Aghhhhh?" Touya spewed juice…right into Kurogane's face. Kurogane's face was frozen in shock for a moment, juice slowly dripping from his face. Tomoyo was trying- and failing- to hold in her laughter as she handed her boyfriend a napkin.

"Ahhh…" Touya sweatdrops. A vein pulsed in Kurogane's forehead.

"Was that really necessary?"The ship's captain kept a measured tone. Touya remembered the reason why he had spewed juice in the first place. Sure, it was an _accident_, but he deserved it for actually _kissing_ his little Kaijuu. Yes, kissing!

"Well, I'd say it was completely necessary. I mean you kissed Sakura! You…you…ARGH!" Touya was almost tearing his hair out. Tomoyo sweatdrops. She could literally see the murderous aura coming from both men. The "talk" wore on with Tomoyo flickering her eyes between the now screaming males. She didn't catch a lot of the conversation, but what she did catch made her pale. They were both spitting in each other's faces, shouting curses, and yelling death threats. Sparks were flying out of the tips of Touya's fingers and Kurogane kept reaching for his sword. The medic quietly excused herself from the table though she doubted the warring men heard her. Once outside, she slumped against the wall. She looked toward where the pilot was being kept and sighed. She hurried to the cockpit to pilot the craft.

After a while, Tomoyo set the ship back to autopilot so she could go check on the men. She found them still in the same position, but engaged in a fierce glaring contest. She chuckled quietly and left.

_**A/N: I didn't really make any changes to their original submission so a few things might not fit in with the actual plot. Anywho, this is not the end of the chapter. Figured I should mention that since I made the one-shot a part of the chapter itself.**_

"_Kaa-san, where are we going?"_

"_We're going to meet some friends, Sakura-chan."_

"_Kaa-san?"_

"_Yes, Sakura-chan?"_

"_What's a friend?"_

"_A friend is a person that you like very much and you enjoy playing games with."_

"_So then Bunny-chan is my friend too, right?"_

"_Yes, Bunny-chan is your friend. And today you're going to make a new friend."_

"_Like Bunny-chan?"_

"_No, like Yukito-kun."_

"_Really?"_

"_Really. But I want you to be on your best behavior today, alright, dear?"_

"_Hai,Kaa-san. I'll be on my bestestestest_best_ behavior and then I'll make a new friend."_

"_Who'd want to be friends with a fat Kaijuu like you?"_

"_Sakura-no-Kaijuu! And I'm not fat!"_

"_Are too."_

"_Am not."_

"_Are too."_

"_Am not."_

"_Are t-"_

"_Touya-kun, don't tease your sister."_

"_Hai, Okaa-san… _fat kaijuu._"_

"_Kaa-saaaaannnn…."_

"_Touya-kun, apologize to your sister. And don't tease her when we get there… speaking of which, we're here."_

…

"_Sakura-chan, meet your new friend, Li Xiao-lang-kun."_

"_Li Shao-lan-kun?"_

"_I suppose that will have to do for now,Nadeshiko."_

"_I suppose it will,Yelan."_

"_Okaa-san, why is that brat with the kaijuu?"_

"_Touya-kun."_

"_Well, he does look like a brat to me."_

…_.._

"_Ne, Li-kun, are we friends?"_

"_Hai, Sakura-chan, we're friends."_

"_Then can I call you Shao-lan-kun?"_

…_.._

"_Kaa-san, why can't we stay with Shao-lan-kun for long?"_

"_Some bad men are creating trouble for your Otou-san. He wants us to come back home for now."_

"_Hai… Kaa-san?"_

"_Hmmm?"_

"_Can we come back to meet Shao-lan-kun again sometime? His magic really likes me."_

"_Really?"_

"_Hai. And… my magic really likes Shao-lan-kun too."_

"Sakura, wake up!"

"… Chii?"

"Who else? Now come on, get up. Yuuko wants you to come down and meet with some of her guests."

"Okay, gimme some time to change. I'll be right there. Do you know who the guests are?"

"Nope. She won't let any of us see them until you're there."

"Alright. I'll be right out."

Climbing out of her bed, Sakura hastily brushed her hair back into a ponytail and splashed some water on her face before throwing on a pair of jeans and a button up shirt. Pulling on a pair of zip-up boots, the auburn haired girl made her way out into the corridor to find the other girls waiting for her.

"Must be someone important if she's called all of us down to meet them."Chunhyang commented as they walked down the familiar path to the outer parts of the building where Yuuko entertained her guests.

"Must be."Chii agreed.

"Ah, she's here." Yuuko smiled as the girls pooled into the room from the western entrance. Yuuko sat facing her guests in such a manner that everyone else had their backs towards the entrance.

Sakura found herself freezing in place as her eyes fell on the much-awaited guests of her employer.

"… Kaijuu."

Snapping into action, the jade-eyed girl approached the man before her, her raging emotions hidden behind a mask of indifference. Stopping half a foot away from the hunter, she raised her left foot and brought it down on the hunter's. Hard.

"I am _not_ a monster!" she raged, not even giving the man time to get his bearings as she flung her arms around him. Burying her face into his shirt as tears began flowing down her cheeks, she murmured into his shirt, "You're so mean, Nii-san."

"Sa-kura," Touya breathed, bringing up his own arms to wrap around her waist. It appeared as though all his fears had been unfounded. His little monster did not hate him.

"Chii, there's someone here for you to meet as well." Yuuko gently told the blond girl.

"For me to meet?" Sakura heard her friend repeat in wonder before exclaiming, "Yuui!" This was followed by the sound of flesh being hit and the recipient whimpering in pain.

"That's for disappearing on me like that, you jerk!" the blond yelled angrily as Sakura raised her head from her brother's shirt to witness Chii rage at the pilot of _Little Dragon_. Sakura took in his battered appearance with a worried frown but she couldn't help but smile when Chii gave him a crushing hug, not unlike the one Sakura had given her brother.

Touya squeezed her fingers in a reassuring manner, smiling at her when she looked up at him.

Nodding, Sakura rested her head against his broad shoulder. After all these cycles of searching, she finally knew who she and the man standing beside her really were.


	38. Just a Little Selfish

_**A/N: I was suffering from writers block for this one but a reader asked me why I hadn't updated this fic for so long and my bunnies decided to come out of hibernation long enough for me to finish this chapter. I hope you guys enjoy it despite the long wait. **_

"Tomoyo, where's Syaoran?" Sakura asked the medic once they were alone. Her heart beat wildly against her ribcage, the feeling of wrongness assaulting her with a vengeance as she took in the lavender-eyed medic's dejected appearance.

"After Fai…Yuui sent you away, Kyle used a seal on Syaoran and he turned into someone entirely different. His eyes…. They were so cold. And he…. Didn't really care about what that man did to any of us. He just followed him when he left. And now… We… We have no idea where he is now."

"…" The jade-eyed girl, lowered her head as she realized what had happened after she had been forcefully sent away.

"Sakura," Tomoyo pleaded, "Please… help us find him."

"…"

"Sakura please." The begging woman had tears in her bloodshot eyes as she held her gaze. "F- Yuui said that you share a bond with Syaoran. He said that you'd be able to find him."

"Tomoyo I…"

"Sakura please, I'm begging you. I would never have asked you to help us if we could have located him on our own. He might not be related to me by blood but to me, he's still my little brother."

Wordlessly, Sakura climbed to her feet and left the room, leaving the medic behind to cry her heart out. Sakura knew what she was doing was selfish and unkind but… She had just found Touya. Could she really risk her own life and that of her brother's to find… to find… unknowingly her footsteps began leading her towards the room that the out-of-commission pilot was staying at. She could hear whispered voices talking on the other side and for a minute, she almost turned around to leave.

"You can come in now, Sakura." She heard Chii say as the door to the blonde's room slid open to reveal her friend and the pilot.

"It's okay. I'll come back later. You guys talk."

"Nah. I'm done talking to the idiot for now. I was just about to leave anyways," Chii said as she ushered the girl inside, "You go ahead and talk. I'll catch you later, okay?" and then she was gone.

"She was trying to convince me to let Yuuko place a counter seal on my shoulder." He said as Sakura struggled for a topic to start the conversation on.

"Did you agree then?" she asked softly, playing with the hem of shirt as she avoided his gaze.

"… No."

"Why not?" Sakura looked up at him in surprise.

"I need the seal to be in working order if we are to find Syaoran."

"…"

"You can't really decide whether you want to help or not, can you?"

"It's not that I don't want to help because I do. I really do. It's just that…" she sighed, noticing that Fai was patiently waiting for her to continue, "I can't leave Touya behind."

"Kyle must have informed Fei Wong about you by now." Fai spoke softly, his tone not unkind, "They already have Syaoran back in their clutches and Fei won't stop until he has you back as well. Are you willing to spend the rest of your life running away in fear from that man?"

"…"

"Even if you cast illusions and take up new identities to throw him off your trail," he added after a while, and Sakura wasn't sure whether if the blond mage was capable of mindreading in his current state or not. "He has the means to find you again. Now that they have a definite lock on your magical signature, every little spell you perform will flare up like a beacon for them. You say you don't want to leave your brother behind but tell me this Sakura, are you willing to put your brother in harm's way?"

"Yuuko has the means to protect us." Sakura answered stubbornly, squashing the tiny voice inside her head telling her to think about Syaoran.

"Is that your final decision?" the blond man held no anger in his voice but Sakura could sense the disappointment buried in his tone. She didn't let it get to her though.

"… Yes." She replied as she climbed to her feet and made to leave the room. Her feet halted by the door when the former pilot called her name though.

"I respect your decision Sakura and I won't ask you to reconsider it if that is what you want," Sakura could feel a 'but' coming along in there somewhere and she wasn't disappointed, "but I have one request to make of you."

"I might not concede to it," she informed him as she turned around to face the man, though she made no move to get closer to him, "but seeing as I owe you a thank you for returning my memories, I'm willing to hear what it is."

"Just help us find him."

"Tomoyo said that I shared a bond with him." She admitted though it came out sounding more like a question than a statement.

"If you can access that bond, you'd be able to find him for us. We'll leave you alone after that."

"But I don't even know what it is."

"You may think you don't but you do." The man flashed her a small grin, "you've already used it so many times in the past."

"… I'll see what I can do." She promised silently as she left.

-0-

_The stench of sweat and blood hung heavy in the air. There was trepidation and uncertainty permeating every inch of this place. There were voices speaking but none of them were recognizable. At first. Things began to click into place as they drew closer. Trepidation turned into fear. There were bonds etched into skin, making it impossible to move, the dark ink tattoos burning flesh upon struggling, using pain as a major factor to discourage any attempts of escape._

_Foreign feelings took place of the fear. _

_Anticipation. _

_Excitement._

_Glee._

_Fear fought and struggled against these foreign emotions, trying to gain back its foothold._

_A cool female voice announced that the subject was ready for the final stages just as the dull room was lightened. Intimidating machinery lined all the walls, though there were rusty stains decorating most of the equipment. With a humming buzz, one by the one, the monstrosities began coming to life._

_Fear began to lose its foothold again as pure unadultered terror forced its way in._

_There was sharp pain as claws began tearing something apart and a scream of pure agony pierced the air._

-0-

Breathing hard, Sakura shot up in her bed, her eyes wide as she reached for her heart with her right hand. It had all felt so real.

"Sakura!" she heard Touya scream as he banged his fist against her door… at least, she thought it was his fist. "Sakura, what's wrong?" still trying to make her heartbeat return to normal, she pressed a small panel next to her bed and the door unlocked, allowing her worried brother to enter, followed by a frowning Chii and Tomoyo. Her gaze locked with the amethyst eyed medic and something passed between the two.

"I… I need to speak with Fai." She declared, hastily climbing out of her bed. "Chii, where is he being kept?"

"Sakura, what happened? You were screaming."

"I wasn't screaming Nii-san." She replied quietly, avoiding his concerned gaze as she followed the blond. Her heart fluttered beneath her chest as she felt him follow her. Guilt began to twist her gut into painful knots. They had not even been reunited for a day and her thoughts were already moving down a path that might end up separating them again.

"I heard you Sakura." He said incredulously, "From all the way down the hall."

"It wasn't me." She repeated, quickly ducking into the pilot's room. She knew she was being a coward but she did not want to see the look on his face when he found her decision. She knew she wouldn't get lucky enough though when he followed in right behind her. "This connection," she addressed the sleepy blue-eyed mage before her brother had a chance to question her, "does it manifest itself through dreams?"

"In certain cases," he replied, rubbing the sleep out of his eyes as he focused his attention on her, not even bothering to question why she wanted to know that in the middle of the night, "it does."

Sakura felt her heart skip a beat. So it had been real… a stab of phantom pain shot through her whole body making her flinch slightly as her surroundings began to dissolve into a hazy smoke.

_Cold. So cold. Empty. What did it all mean? What was this place? The marks were burnt into flesh. The heat warring with the cold all around. There was pain. So much pain. There was blood. But it belonged to someone else. _

_A command was whispered and screams echoed everywhere. The violent magic raged and raged and raged. People were dying. And it was cold. So very cold. And hollow. Something was missing._

"…know where he is?" Sakura blinked, noticing Tomoyo's anxious face in her line of vision for the first time. "Did you see him?"

"I-I…" the world turned to smoke again.

_It was so dark. And cold. _

_What was this place? _

_The inky blackness that stretched all around. It consumed. It devoured. Until… There was nothing left. No existence. No light to see. No sound to hear. Nothing at all but a void. A cold, cold void. _

_Floating, turning and twisting in nothing. Couldn't move. Couldn't breathe. Couldn't see. Couldn't hear. _

"…Sakura!" she felt strong hands shaking her shoulders. "Sakura, answer me!"

"Nii-san..." she mumbled, feeling confused. A shudder traveled up her spine as she remembered the cold void. Where was it? _What_ was it? "Why are you shaking me?"

"You've been staring into space for the past five minutes." Touya replied, calming down some, though a worried frown still adorned his face. "What happened? Are you sick?" he fussed, feeling her forehead for a fever, his left hand keeping a firm grip on her shoulder as though afraid she might vanish if he let go, "Do you need to lie down?"

"I'm fine, Touya." She mumbled, looking away to avoid his stormy, blue-eyed gaze.

"Your magic was going haywire…" he pointed out.

"Fai, Tomoyo," she spoke up, avoiding her brother in favor of looking at the other occupants of the room. Out of the corner of her eye, she noticed the expression of hurt on Touya's face. Hoping he'd forgive her for her decision. "I know where they're keeping Syaoran."

"Where is he?" Tomoyo asked, sounding hopeful and pleading at the same time.

"Clow."

"Oh my God. Thank you Sakura!" Tomoyo cried happily as she threw herself on the auburn-haired girl, pulling her in a grateful hug.

_It was hollow. A place of no existence. There was life outside. The beating of hearts, the thrumming of blood through veins. It was all there. Just out of reach. _

_But it was lonely here. Out there… not lonely._

_Tried to reach for it… But couldn't move… couldn't reach. _

'…_make sure… it's perfectly secure…'_

_It was a faint whisper, consumed by the emptiness. The sound smothered by nothingness until nothing remained. Just the cold, cold void._

"And Hong Kong…" she murmured, causing the older woman to draw back with a frown.

"What?" she laughed a little in disbelief, "How can he be in two places at once? Clow and Hong Kong are almost on the opposite ends of the galaxy."

She ignored her question in favor of observing the myriad of emotions that fluttered through the blind pilot's eyes before the shutters closed on them with a snap that made her recoil almost physically. "Clow and Hong Kong?" Fai repeated, sounding worried, "Are you sure?"

Ignoring the unease she felt at being cut off from his emotions like that, she frowned, trying to recall the feel of Syaoran's magic. It felt different now. Like there was something missing. Almost like… almost like someone had physically clawed away something vital from it and thrown it somewhere far away. In the direction she knew was Hong Kong, it was cold, raw and unfeeling. But there it was again, at Clow, faint and fluttering like a candle in the wind.

"His magic… does it feel strange?" he asked almost hesitantly. The shutters to his mind opened briefly, letting her catch a glimpse of the dread and apprehension he was feeling. But they snapped shut once more before she could glean anything else.

"It does." She replied, observing him closely, completely unaware of the others in the room by then.

"This is bad." He admitted, hastily climbing to his feet. Whatever it was that had been ailing the mage when he had arrived, Yuuko seemed to have cured him off it. He still appeared rather pale though. Like the effects of his ailment were still lingering.

"What's wrong?" Tomoyo questioned, looking from Sakura to Fai back to Sakura again.

"… Fei has succeeded in what he started all those cycles ago." He replied, pulling on his shirt as he struggled into his shoes at the same time. Dread settled in the pit of Sakura's gut, she wasn't so sure she wanted to know what it was that the pilot had to say. "He's created the perfect weapon."

_**A/N: so who can guess what's happening here with Sakura and the bond and Syaoran and stuff? And how exactly has Fei succeeded in creating the perfect weapon? Will Sakura decide to help out now that she knows something has gone seriously wrong? Will Touya allow her to leave? What about Chii? Will she let Yuui go? And why can Sakura feel Syaoran's magic in two places? Why am I asking you all these questions? **_

_**If you would like to take a guess at any of the above, feel free to leave a review. Comment if this chapter made up for the long wait. Yell at me if it didn't. Feel free to do whatever you like as long as you guys let me know what you thought about this update. Until next time.**_

_**-Obsidian**_


	39. A Decision is Made

_**A/N: So I'm back with another update. And so close to my finals too… *sighs* everytime I decide I'm going to sit down and study, I get attacked by a new bunny and then I just HAVE to write it down or it won't go away. Lucky for you guys, this bunny decided to bug me yesterday. So yeah, enjoy the chapter. And please leave a review. **_

Clenching her eyes, Sakura burrowed further under the covers. Fai, Kurogane and Tomoyo were leaving the next afternoon and they all respected her decision of staying where she was, thanking her for helping them locate Syaoran. Kurogane and Tomoyo still seemed cross with Fai but they weren't outright threatening to kill the blond anymore, as they had been before from what she had gathered from Touya's explanation. Now that she had all of her memories, she no longer had to work for Yuuko but she had decided to keep her job as an information thief. It paid pretty well. She had Touya and Yukito back with her as well so everything was well in her life. She felt something shifting inside her restlessly but she pushed the feeling away. It wasn't her place. Besides, they didn't expect her to come along and help them out. She had only been travelling on their ship to get to Infinity. She felt partially responsible for the demise of _Little Dragon_ so she had talked Yuuko into lending them _Mokona_ for a while. At least until they managed to get a ship of their own again.

Yuuko had told them that they were welcome to Infinity once they had accomplished their task. She wasn't sure as to why the ruler of Infinity was offering them refuge on the dark world. Especially when doing so could lead to Fei finally declaring war as that was going to be his precious weapon they were out to steal. Shaking her head to get rid of those thoughts, she sat up, searching around for something to help go to sleep in her drawer. Finding the little bottle, she dry swallowed a couple of pills and laid back down. She was asleep within five minutes.

_The birds were chirping sweetly but unlike all those other times when their sweet songs brought a smile to her lips, she merely glared at the rose bushes angrily, her tiny arms crossed before her chest._

"_Why are you hiding out here?" _

"_Oni-san keeps on being mean to me," she pouted, "And now, Mei-chan has started calling me a Kaijuu too."_

"_My cousin can be a little mean at times." He nodded, taking a seat next to her on the marble bench. "I'm sorry."_

"_Why are you sorry?" she cocked her head to the side in confusion, turning to look at his solemn face._

"_She doesn't like you very much because I'm spending time with you now." He admitted._

"_But she has Oni-san to keep her company." She frowned thoughtfully, finding it difficult to understand why the other girl would not like her when she had made a new friend because of her._

"_She also doesn't like it that my magic likes you more than it likes her." Had she looked up just then, she would have seen the soft blush that adorned the boy's cheeks as he looked at her._

"_Oh..." that was a little surprising, "ne, Syaoran-kun?" _

"_Yes, Sakura?"_

"_I think Oni-san's magic likes Mei-chan but, shhh," she made a shushing motion with her hand as a wide grin split her face, "don't tell him I told you that. Oni-san doesn't like it when I use magic to see things like that."_

"… _do you think if she had magic," he seemed almost hesitant to ask the question, "it would have liked your brother too?"_

"_I don't think anyone's magic would like that big meanie." She made a face, sticking out her tongue before bursting into peals of laughter. All of a sudden, as though a switch had been flipped off, everything grew deathly silent, though Sakura could see her younger, four cycle old self laughing happily with an equally young Syaoran. A cold, almost insubstantial hand touched her on the shoulder though she could not hear anything. Wondering what the heck had gone wrong, she turned around, almost falling back in shock upon finding Syaoran standing there, watching her with that silent, amber-eyed gaze of his, hurt and accusation evident in his expression._

"_S-Syaoran…"_

_He parted his lips to speak but no sound came out. He stared at her expectantly once he was done but she only stared back in bewilderment. He repeated his question but once again, she did not hear what he said._

"_I can't hear you Syaoran."_

"_Help me…" a faint whisper ghosted her skin just as she felt her magic reach out to something. That familiar yet alien aura met hers and she was thrown back into awareness with a sharp tug._

Opening her eyes, she lay in bed, staring at the ceiling, watching the tiny specks of dust dance around in the pale, dirty gray sunlight filtering into her room through the curtains.

_Help me… Sakura… _the whisper from her dream breathed against the shell of her ear, causing her to bolt upright, one hand clenched into a fist against her right breast as she cast a wary glance around her room.

Shaking her head and putting it up to her mind playing tricks on her, she climbed out of bed, going about her daily routine of washing up and changing into her day clothes before heading to the main dining hall for breakfast. As she walked through the silent, dimly lit hallways, she felt all the curtains that covered up the windows flutter in an unnatural breeze. she stopped walking, looking back the way she had come, wondering whether if one of the windows behind her had perhaps been left opened. Her magic felt restless inside her, struggling to reach out to something but she forced it to remain where it was. The wind blew again, slapping her hair against her face, momentarily blinding her as she felt the ghost of a presence behind her.

_Help me…_ the wind whispered to her before dying out, leaving her standing alone, a little short of breath and wide-eyed as her magic seemed to curl in on itself in endless sorrow.

The next time it happened was as she sat the table, neatly cutting up some flatcakes with her knife. A violent gust of air nearly knocked her out of her chair as the familiar whisper repeated the same phrase in her ear, though it sounded somewhat different this time.

_Help me!_

"Kaijuu," she blinked once, looking up from her plate to see everyone seated at the table looking at her in concern, "you okay?"

"Huh? Oh, I-I'm fine." She replied, hastily picking up the knife she had dropped. She could feel her brother's worried gaze linger on her a little longer before turning away from her. She only picked at her food after that though, silently leaving for her room, muttering a half-formed excuse about wanting to go through some of the files in her laptop and finishing preparations for her next job.

_Why won't you help me?_

Dropping the book in her hand, she whirled around, watching the barely there outline of an amber-eyed apparition stare at her reproachfully before vanishing altogether.

-0-

Touya, on Yukito's nagging, helped the blond pilot Yuui get the ship _Mokona_ ready for their journey. It was a black colored replica of the ship he had stolen from Ryanban's _Kishimu_.

"Anything else you might need?"

"No, that would be all," the blond shook his head, "thank you for your help."

They were to depart the next afternoon. Even though he had not taken an active part in their planning of the rescue attempt, he had still caught enough snatches of their conversation with the wine-eyed witch, Yuuko, to know that they had decided on rescuing the brat stuck in Clow before heading over to Hong Kong. The Bat Lord had somehow managed to split the boy's soul from his body in such a manner that the body had turned into a powerful puppet for the bastard to command. The perfect, mindless yet powerful weapon that could eliminate slews of enemies without even batting an eye. Or so he had been informed. The kid supposedly had enough magic to rival the legendary Clow Reed. The only other person that could even come close to matching that level of raw power now would have to be his little Kaijuu. He had to wonder why the blond, the seemingly knew about this little fact, had failed to ask his sister for help. The pilot must have known that going up against that powerful a foe would result in nothing but death for him and his companions. Maybe if he did not have that controlling seal upon his own body, he might have been able to actually able to hold his own against the brat- any magician that could survive going against the seal and the Bat Lord for this long had to be a powerful mage in his own right. As it was though, the seal consumed so much of his power that the magic that could be spared in the end was even feebler than a five year old child's.

"No problem," he grunted in response, turning around to leave before pausing near the doorway to the hanger. "There is a network of secret tunnels that lead into the castle at Clow. You can find one of the entrances under the ruins of the twin towers in the desert."

"They must be one of the secret passages built for the Royal Family," the blond commented though he could hear the gratitude in his tone. That brat must have been really important to him.

"They are." He nodded, "No one but me, Yukito or Sakura know about them anymore though."

Speaking about his sister, reminded him of the troubling manner she had been behaving in all day long, jumping at the faintest of whispers, her eyes darting around wildly every now and then, the color draining from her face at the sight of something only she could see. He had tried asking her what was wrong but the girl had merely brushed him off, claiming it to be nothing but her imagination. He knew there was more to it though. He had caught flashes of guilt swimming in her jade-eyes a few times he had caught her staring at the pilot and his companions. Something was going on in her head and whatever it was, it made him feel uneasy. He knew his sister well enough, despite having been separated from her for all these cycles, to know that the little monster was struggling to make a decision. His magic shifted restlessly beneath his skin, sensing its master's unease and wanting to do something to soothe his ire. Touya commanded it deeper inside his body, selfishly hoping against hope that his little monster would be too late to make her decision and would remain behind with him and Yukito where it was safe. He did not want to lose her after just having found her.

He was almost back at the door to his allotted bedroom when he felt Sakura's bright pink aura approach the pale blue barely there aura of the blond pilot. A heavy feeling of dread settled within the pit of his gut as he turned back the way he had come, sending a telepathic message to Yukito to meet him at the hanger. Having seen the way she had been around the brat back at _Little Dragon_ he had known this would come to pass even if his little Kaijuu had been trying her best to push those feelings away and stay with him and his best-friend.

Sakura had made her choice but he'd be damned if he let her go again. There was no way he was letting his little monster rush to her death just like that. Not if he had anything to say about it.

-0-

"Fai." She called out softly as she entered the hanger, looking around the seemingly deserted hall but she heard the echo of the blonde's footstep sound from inside the hull of _Mokona_.

"Sakura." The man acknowledged her, bowing his head slightly in greeting as he emerged from the ship and moved on to lean against a few random crates- those boxes were to be shipped off to Piffle in a few days.

She stood there silently, nibbling at her lip, wondering why the hell she had even come down there. She shuddered as she heard the wind whisper in her ear yet again. That's right, she had come down because…

"Is there something you needed?" the man cocked his head to one side, seemingly waiting for her to say what she wanted to, though she could almost catch the knowing glint in his strange blue-eyed gaze. It was rather unnerving to have his eyes upon her, especially since they were no longer that warm gold she had become so accustomed to seeing. It was almost like he was a completely different person now.

"I… I was wondering," she sighed, approaching the man slowly before jumping up to sit on one of the crates beside him, "how exactly are you guys going save Syaoran?"

"Did you have a chance to actually look at the files concerning Syaoran in those files you stole?" her surprise must have shown on her face for the man merely laughed before continuing, "Chii told me about that. So, have you?"

"Not in detail," she shook her head, wondering why in the world her blond friend had deemed it fit to let the pilot in on that little secret. Oh yeah, he was her cousin slash adoptive brother. "But I did skim over them when I first got them."

"Did you ever get around to reading about the final phase of Project Little Wolf?" he said, observing her rather closely. "Xiao Lang or Syaoran as you know him, means Little Wolf."

"I know." She mumbled.

"You two knew each other in your childhood." His casual comment made her head snap in his direction in alarm. "Your magic had time to actually get used to the other's presence which was one of the major reasons why Fei wanted the two of you as his weapons. You are both powerful in your own right, no doubt about it, but together… you would have been a force to be reckoned. I was in-charge of Project Little Wolf, as I'm sure you would have heard from Tomoyo."

"Why did you do it?"

"They had my brother." He admitted quietly, "it was either him or Syaoran. You can understand who I chose, can't you?"

"What made you change your mind then?" she wondered out loud.

"Fai, that's my brother's name, was nothing more than a mockery of a human being by the time I managed to get him. He wasn't even alive anymore," he replied rather bitterly, "they were only keeping his body alive to use him as a power source for magic."

"I'm sorry."

"There are times that I wish I had never let him go," he did not really seem to be talking to her anymore, intently observing the palms of his hands, repeatedly clenching them into fists before unclenching them again. "But I had been stupid back then. I'm not going to make the same mistake this time around," he promised, "even though… I know I might not live to see another day, but if my death means that Syaoran can have a chance at freedom and then I wouldn't mind dying for that cause."

"You're not going to die." she said firmly, watching the soft grin that formed across the blonde's lips as he turned his head to look at her, "You're not going to die," she repeated, taking a deep breath to steel herself for the words she was about to say. There would be no going back once she spoke them out loud. "Because I'm going with you."

"If you think I'm going to let you gallivant alone across the galaxy to save that brat," Touya's menacing growl made her heart skip a beat. Her brother was not supposed to have heard her declaration. He was supposed to have been in bed and asleep and oblivious to her decision. That was why she had waited until this late to actually approach the blond. Touya would never let her go. "And get your monstrous butt kicked by the hunters, think again Kaijuu."

_**A/N: And just as she decided to go with them, Touya intervenes. What do you think will happen next? **_


	40. The Best Laid Plans

_**A/N: And after a long wait, it's finally here. The next chapter. Enjoy~**_

It was almost amusing to see the myriad of emotions playing across Sakura's face as she stared back at him while he leant against the entrance to the hanger. He heard Yukito sigh in exasperation behind him, concealed by the shadows of the relatively-dark corridor.

"Touya, listen, I-"

"I'm not going to let you prance off to get yourself killed like an idiot," he repeated firmly, inwardly grinning at the angry face Sakura made at hearing that as he calmly strode over to her. He had missed his Kaijuu so much. "Which is why I'm coming too." Yukito smacked his shoulder for laughing at the way his sister's jaw dropped to the floor at his declaration. "I'm your Onii-san, you dumbass. I know there is no changing your mind once you've made it up, so I might as well join you for the ride to ensure that you won't be getting yourself killed."

'And besides,' he thought to himself as he allowed a small grin to form on his lips, happily returning the hug his sister gave him, 'I promised to look out for you. I failed to keep that promise once, but I'm not going to fail again.'

"Thank you so much, Touya." She grinned up at him, her eyes sparkling with joy. He felt a little irritated that the thought of being able to save the brat was the reason why she became so happy, but he reined the feeling in. The brat might have been the basic reason, but there was no denying the fact that this happiness was because her brother was coming along.

"Well," Yuui chirped lightly as he straightened up and headed towards the entrance to the hanger, "I suppose I should wake up Tomoyo and Kurogane. With you two aboard-"

"Three." Yukito spoke up, "If Touya and Sakura-chan go, I go."

"Alright then," the blond grinned, "with you _three_ aboard, a change of plans is in order."

-0-

"Sakura said that she could sense Syaoran in Clow and Hong Kong at the same time," Yuui said, "Which means for those who don't know, Fei Wong Reed has separated Syaoran's spirit, or shall we say his conscience for the lack of a better term, from the rest of his body."

"Is that even possible?" Sakura noticed the frown deepen on Yukito's face as he asked the question. The two hunters, plus Sakura, Yuui, Kurogane and Tomoyo were all seated in one of the conference rooms that Sakura and the other girls used to meet up with clients to discuss job details. The one they were currently in was decorated with a mix of modern technology and antique furniture. The table was a heavily carved, mahogany thing with eight imperial-styled chairs. At first glance it appeared as though the tabletop was covered with a thin sheet of glass, but in reality it was fitted with a touch-screen that allowed the people seated there to be able to view various files, documents, maps, pictures and pretty much anything else that might be within the required data for a job during the meeting.

"Normally, that would be impossible to accomplish without killing the person being subjected to this process," Yuui replied with a shake of his head, the soft glow from the active touch-screen casting shadows across his face, "but in Syaoran's case, Fei's seal made his body adapt and recondition itself for this very day."

"So he had always been planning on doing this to the kid?"Kurogane growled, his knuckles whitening as Sakura saw him clench his fists where they lay on the table.

"A puppet without any conscious thoughts of its own would be far easier to control in comparison to someone who can think for themselves, no?"

"I'll rip that bastard with my bare hands." The dark-haired man snarled as he jumped to his feet, roughly pushing the chair back with so much force it wobbled on two legs before settling back again.

"Calm down, Kurogane." To Sakura's surprise, it was Tomoyo that admonished the dark-haired man, laying a hand on his arm and making him sit back again. "Let him finish what he was saying."

The blond shot her a grateful look before continuing as his fingers began to dance across the table top. "In order for us to be able to save Syaoran, we need to reunite the two halves and form a whole. It's all just a theory, but that should be possible if we bring the two to the same place. I think that's probably the reason why Fei put them so far apart in the first place."

"Won't Fei move the other half when he realizes we have freed one of them?" Yukito pointed out with a small frown as he seemed to take note of the long list of files that began opening up at the blonde's commands. The flashes of each opening file overlapping the previous one reflected from his round glasses.

"He will," Yuui nodded as he wiped the top of the table with his fingers one last time to pull up two space maps. "If he finds out about it before we've gotten to the second half." He finished with a grin that reminded Sakura of a cat-lion that had nabbed some delicious cream without anyone knowing about it.

"What do you mean?" Touya questioned, meaning for the blond to elaborate. Sakura knew the same thoughts were running through her brother's head, but he no doubt wanted the pilot to clarify what he meant before coming to any concrete conclusions.

"These two maps show the current situation of the space surrounding Clow and Hong Kong," Yuui slid his index finger across the screen and the maps rose up from the surface of the table to show a three-dimensional grid. "As you can see, patrols have been heightened rather drastically around both worlds, Clow more so than Hong Kong for the obvious reason that the asteroid belt surrounding the latter makes it quite difficult for ships to leave or enter the planet except from a few cleared off points. These points are being watched heavily, but any skilled pilot worth his number of years _should_ be able to get through the asteroid belt without arousing much attention."

"Get to the point, Blondie." Sakura suppressed the urge to giggle at her brother's irritation with the pilot. "What is your plan to save the brat?"

"The plan, _Touya_," Yuui grinned as he leaned back in his chair, letting Sakura know that he was thoroughly enjoying dragging the whole thing out, "is that we will be breaking out both halves at the same time and bringing one to the other to merge. At least that _was_ the initial plan that I had thought up, but with just the three of us, that would have been impossible to accomplish. So we had signed ourselves up for a suicide mission and decided on saving the Syaoran in Clow before heading to Hong Kong." He said all this in the same cheerful tone that Sakura had heard him use back on the ship _Little Dragon_, "Now with you three on board, we can get both together with minimal trouble."

"Do you know _where _on Clow and Hong Kong the bastard is keeping him?" Touya quirked a brow, "_One_ entire planet would have been enough of a pain in the ass to search for the brat, let alone searching through two."

"I know of the facilities that Fei had had built around the time when I had been working with him," the blond nodded. Sakura struggled to keep her thoughts from showing on her face. Yuui knew of the facilities that had been built several cycles ago. What made him think Fei Wong would have still used the same places? As though having read her thoughts, the man continued, "Fei Wong Reed is an arrogant bastard with a bit of a god-complex. Trust me when I say that he _will_ be using those facilities. He has far too much confidence in his 'all-powerful' army of hunters and wizard slaves to even think about something like what we are planning."

"Right, so, do you know how to get in to those facilities?"Sakura asked, her mind already going through various plans that might be suitable for the current situation before the blond gave them all a sheepish grin.

"See, _that_ is what I thought we could decide on in this little meeting."

"In other words, you have no idea." Touya deadpanned.

"Not in the slightest." The pilot responded in such an exuberant tone, one would think he was announcing a lottery win or something.

"Depending on the facilities," Sakura cut in before any of the others could speak, "I think I might be able to help come up with a plan of action." At seeing Touya's somewhat-puzzled frown, she gave her brother a sheepish grin. "After having spent so many cycles breaking and entering into a few of the state-of-the-art facilities around the galaxy, I know a thing or two about bypassing security, Onii-san."

"The facilities were built in the catacombs below Clow Castle and the ruins of the Hong Kong Palace."

"That slimy son-of-a-" Touya growled angrily as Sakura felt a spark of rage within her body as well. The Bat Lord had made those two places secure facilities simply to make a mockery of the conquered people. The centers of their previous governments were the very places that were being used to destroy what remained of the legacy of their fallen leaders. "Sakura," her brother said, taking a calming breath to reign in the emotion clearly dancing across his face, "you, Yukito and I will head to Clow, while those three can go on to Hong Kong and-"

"Actually," Yuui interrupted the hunter in a serious tone, "You will have to accompany Tomoyo and Kurogane to Clow while Sakura, I and Yukito will be heading off to Hong Kong."

"What?" Both Kurogane and Touya growled at the same time.

"Kurogane, you and Tomoyo have no magic. The Syaoran in Clow is the one that can't be controlled and so he won't be dangerous to either of you." To Sakura it seemed as though the blond was talking to kids instead of people his age as he went about explaining the plan in a patient manner that reminded her of a school teacher. "Touya said that the catacombs can be accessed through a secret entrance that only the royals know about or can access, so you two can't get in without Sakura or Touya. We'll need Sakura's help to keep the soulless Syaoran at bay in Hong Kong since she shares a connection with him that can prove advantageous for her in a fight." Without giving a chance for anyone to interrupt, the blond continued, "The quickest way to get Syaoran from Clow to Hong Kong would be through a portal. Yukito and Touya are very strong magicians, no doubt about it, but you both lack enough power to open a portal connecting two points in space this far apart and hold it stable long enough for four people to cross, so the best portal that I can think of is one that is established at both ends instead of just one. You two have grown up together, have you not?"He asked, quirking a brow in the direction of the two hunters as his fingers began dancing across the touch-screen once more, "so you two must be well aware of how the other's magic works. I am going to Hong with Sakura simply because I can get us through the asteroid belt with ease."

"That confident in your abilities?"Touya quirked a brow, as though sizing up the blond and trying to see if he could match his claims.

"I've actually gotten to the planet several times through that very belt." Was the blonde's reply, surprising Sakura yet again. "My mentor and I used to deliver special goods there." He said by way of explanation. "Do you guys have any objections to this arrangement?" Nobody spoke up, mostly because the pilot had offered quite sound reasoning for splitting them all up the way he had. Yukito would go with Sakura and Yuui to Hong Kong to establish the exit half of the portal while Touya would be going to Clow to help Tomoyo and Kurogane break into the Clow facility through the underground catacombs. Sakura would be heading off to Hong Kong to keep Syaoran at bay until the others arrived, and Yuui would be the pilot to get them there stealthily.

"Now we have only one problem left to tackle." The blond said, pinching the bridge of his nose tiredly, "Anybody knows how to get into the Palace without being detected?"

No one spoke, but Sakura could see her brother struggling with something as he gritted his teeth and looked away. Almost half a minute later, he heaved a sigh and turned to face them. "I don't know how to get in there without summoning every guard in the vicinity upon us, but I do know someone who might."

"Touya, you do realize she is still quite angry at you?"Yukito pointed out warily, piquing Sakura's interest.

"She's always angry at me." He shrugged carelessly, avoiding Sakura's eager gaze, "you, on the other hand, she _adores._ Besides, I can tell she'd kick my ass to hell and back if I left her out of the loop on this one. Especially considering _who_ this whole deal involves."

_**A/N: A mystery lady awaits half the gang at Hong Kong. I wonder who that could be. Any guesses? Fai has taken up the role of the leader for this rescue mission due to his previous experiences with Fei. Oh and he will be referred to as Yuui from now on as that's his real name. Next chapter we have some crazy piloting from our favorite blond as the gang tries to get out of a dogfight and Sakura narrowly avoids dying of a heart-attack or two. ;) ;)**_

_**Keep an eye out for the next update.**_

_**~Obsidian**_


	41. A Wild Ride!

_**A/N: And I'm back with a new chapter. I hope you guys aren't getting bored with this fic or anything. I didn't really get much of a response from you guys last chapter. Is the story progressing too slow or is it the long breaks between updates? I'd like to know what I'm doing wrong. But anywho… hope you guys enjoy this chapter since I think I might have fallen in love with this Fai because of this chapter. ;) ;)**_

Don't get yourself killed, Kaijuu," Touya murmured softly as he hugged his little sister before boarding the white ship _Mokona._ The ship was built for speed, as was evident from the sleek, streamlined shape of the hull, but special attention had also been paid to comfort and style. The ship was a dream come true for any speed-junkie and the hunter knew it must have cost a fortune. But funnily enough, no one had bothered enquiring about him keeping it when it obviously did not belong to him. They all hated Ryanban far too much to be bothered by him stealing the ship. Besides, that fat idiot was long dead. No one really cared what he did with the stolen vessel. The dead ruler's heir might be looking for a way to get it back, but he'd be damned if he would let go of the beauty any time soon.

"You too, Onii-san," Sakura replied with a small smile as she pulled away from the hug, "See you in a little while." He watched her as she boarded the black ship, identical to his own in every way except for its color, right after the two blonds.

"You ready to leave now?" Kurogane asked impatiently from the ramp leading to the entrance of _Mokona'_s belly.

"I hope you had a light lunch," he replied airily as he passed the man, "I won't like it at all if you throw up inside my ship."

"Don't worry, Touya," the pretty medic hurriedly interrupted before her fiancé could explode at him, making the hunter smirk a little. "Fai is quite a crazy pilot, I'm sure you can't be any worse than him."

"What do you mean 'crazy'?" The smirk slid off his face as he hurried towards the view screen installed in the cockpit, worried for the safety of his loved ones. He got his answer in the way the black ship shot out of the launching bay and vanished into the distance all in the span of five seconds. "Shit!" he cursed, rounding on the duo following him, "he'll get them killed!"

"I'm more worried about you getting _us_ killed." Kurogane grunted with a roll of his eyes as he buckled up into his seat right next to Tomoyo. "Are we going to move sometime in this cycle?"Touya bristled at the implied insult and the other's impatient and dismissive attitude, but held his anger in check. It wouldn't do well if he somehow ended up botching up this suicidal rescue mission because he killed the brat's adoptive brother before the mission even began. It was actually quite surprising and somewhat refreshing to see someone of non-magical origin treating him so normally. Though his magic had never been common knowledge, his presence still managed to instill fear wherever he went thanks to his status as a hunter. Magic or not, quite a few of his colleagues were known to be rather vicious towards those that irked them.

"Well?" The red-eyed man quirked a brow when Touya did not move.

"You know," Touya said with a small smirk, feeling a grudging respect for the seemingly-ordinary man before him. Even without magic, this man was someone who could hold his own in battle, and it showed in the way he held himself. A little brash and impatient, but Kurogane Suwa was a man who would make a formidable enemy. Touya pitied the fools awaiting them at Clow. They wouldn't know what hit them. "I wouldn't mind kicking your ass once this whole shit is over and done with."

"If you survive that long." The ex-captain smirked back. Exchanging a small nod with his new companion, Touya strapped himself into his seat before the view screen, powering up the vessel as he did so. Casting one last glance over his shoulder to confirm that the others were both in place, he placed his hands over the control console built into the hovering panel before him and _Mokona_ shot off the launching bay like a loose arrow.

-0-

Sakura had thought she had had some idea of the way Fai piloted from her time aboard _Little Dragon,_ but she was wrong. Even the time when they had been engaged in a dogfight with space pirates could be compared to coasting on a flat surface in comparison to what the blond was doing just then as he moved their ship past the Bat Lord's barricade of high-tech battleships that were stationed at the border that officially divided the areas of space under the control of Lord Fei Wong and the Time-Space Witch Yuuko.

"Enjoying the ride, Princess?" The blond grinned over his shoulder as his fingers smoothly flew over the controlling consol. His enchanting blue eyes remained on her face even as their ship did another barrel roll to avoid incoming fire.

"Very, just keep your eyes in front." She all but screamed at the blond, her eyes widening at the deadly _Viper _that cut into their path, "The _front,_ Fai! Look out!"

The blonde's only response to her scream was a boisterous laugh as his left hand slid to the right over the console while his right danced to the left. The result was _Mokona _giving a horizontal ninety-degree turn, easily moving out of the way of the _Viper_ at the last possible second, before Fai reversed the position of his hands and the sleek vessel twisted in space once more.

"And here I thought _Touya _was a crazy pilot." She heard Yukito murmur from his position next to her.

"Fai, stop looking at me before you get us all killed!"Sakura shrieked. Sakura had been in quite a lot of chases with Fei's watchdogs herself, but this was just insane. Fai was piloting _Mokona _without even looking.

"Don't fret about this, Sakura," the blond replied with a calm grin as he thankfully turned his head back to face the front, "I could fly us through this barricade with my eyes closed. Have a little more faith in me, won't you? I _did_ keep Fei from tracking us down for several cycles on a ship that was nothing like this baby. Oh, hey,"and he was looking back at her again, "Do you think your brother might be willing to sell his ship to me after all this is done and over with? I don't think Yuuko would like to part with this one, but…"

"I'll ask him for you, but can you _please_ turn back around and _keep _looking at where we're- LOOK OUT!"

"You need to calm down, Sakura-chan," Yukito said softly as he placed a comforting hand on her arm. "I am quite sure Yuui-san knows what he is doing, even if it doesn't look like it."

She gave the bespectacled man a shaky nod, struggling to bring her breathing under control. She was gripping the seat so hard she was sure her fingers must have left gouges in the expensive leather seat covers. Yuuko would _so_ not be happy about that. She forced herself to loosen her grip on the chair. This ship was one of Yuuko's babies and she had never actually had a chance to use it before. That the witch was willing to lend it to them was a little surprising, but not all that surprising at the same time. They needed to be able to travel quickly, for with every passing minute, Fei's hold on his newest weapon grew stronger, making it just that much harder for them to save the brunette from his grasp. Yuuko did not want something so powerful under her enemy's control, for if he had such a weapon at his disposal, he would surely wipe out what little resistance there was on other planets before setting his sights on conquering Infinity. And if that were to happen…the fate of all magical beings would be sealed as slaves of the Bat Lord.

To a normal observer, it may have seemed like a lack of skill and a whole lot of good luck was what was keeping them from dying, but Sakura knew the blond was getting a thrill out of doing so. If he wanted to, he could easily avoid them altogether but for some reason, he seemed to be enjoying these brief brushes with death. One tiny miscalculation on his part, one tiny mistake and they would be blown to smithereens, yet the magician apparently could have cared less about it as he gave delighted whoops every time one of Fei's ships missed crashing into them.

Reinforcements from surrounding areas in space seemed to be arriving as the space before them filled up with endless black vessels, all deadly-and-ferocious-looking. Flutterbies were fluttering about madly inside her stomach and she resisted the urge to be sick at the frightening sight. She had known this was not going to be an easy task in any way, but the way Fai was attracting attention made their little mission appear almost suicidal. And the fact that _Mokona _was not exactly a battleship did not help matters any. Sure Chun-hyang and Primera had added a few upgrades to the vessel, but those were in no way powerful enough to get them through the horde that surrounded them on all sides. She wondered why the pilot was attracting so much attention toward themselves, wondering if Touya's ship had safely made it across before she realized just what it was that the blond was doing. He was helping the others by taking attention off of them and bringing it all upon this vessel. The others would be able to slip past the small guard left behind on the other sides.

Fai's only response to their predicament was a scoffing 'heh' as he wiped the side of his nose with his thumb before his grin took on a predatory edge.

"This will be _fun._"She heard him say, and it took everything Sakura had in her to not march straight up to the blond and throttle him within an inch of his life. Even if it was kind of sweet that he was helping her brother and the other two get through safely, he was _so_ going to get them all killed. As Fai sent the ship into a corkscrew, narrowly avoiding a pair of _Chasers_ from ramming into their vessel, Sakura decided to focus her attention on the interior of the cockpit instead. She'd only keep having mini-heart attacks witnessing the way the pilot narrowly avoided all attacks sent their way. Maybe if she avoided thinking about their current, hopeless situation, she'd wake up and find out that it was all nothing but a nightmare brought on by nerves, though she had never been this nervous in her entire life. Not even when she had gone on her first solo job. This was crazy. Absolutely, positively crazy. Maybe if she came out of this encounter alive, she'd… she'd do something to send Touya into a murderous rage and then maybe laugh about it with Yukito while her brother made a fool out of himself. Oh, and throttle Fai till he was half-dead, too. She'd definitely have to do that.

Looking around, she noticed that the cabin was not really as big as it had been designed to appear at a single glance. If she had to hazard a guess, she'd say it was only six foot by ten at max, longer than it was wide. The pilot's chair was set up right before the view screen, with a hovering console that flickered into existence before the pilot's seat when the ship was powered up, no doubt a way to save up on space while making the interior look high-tech and posh. The view screen itself was tinted the lightest shades of blue, thanks to the various statistics that were showing up on the left and right corners of the screen.

A couple of feet behind the pilot's seat, built into the walls of the metal cabin- equipped with seatbelts and life-support systems- were a total of eight seats, four on either wall, placed at a distance of about half a foot from each other. The seats sunk a little into the wall itself, but were rather comfortable with soft cushions and whatnot and Sakura suspected that they also doubled as escape pods. She could see the tiny shield projectors jutting out of the floor a few inches from her feet and looking up she noticed the receptors built into the roof parallel to the projectors. An expensive carpet was fixed to the floor and some rather intricate designs were carved into the dark metal walls studded with an expensive and unique stone which was rumored to have powerful magical amplification powers, the Flourite stone, but sadly not all magical beings were capable of harnessing its powers. There was a unique style of spell casting that could bring out the potential of these stones,so most nobility usually used them only for show.

Her attention was torn away from her musings when she sensed magic beginning to gather in the space around her, the very air itself becoming alive with the buzzing energy. The stones set into the walls began to glow, light spilling out of them into the carvings that were all interconnected, bathing the interior of the ship in a blue radiance as the light moved through the carvings towards the view screen. Though she could not see it, she could almost imagine the powerful energy gathering in other parts of the ship, bleeding out towards the surface of the metal as the spell got to its final stages. The glow grew brighter and brighter until the light was so blinding Sakura had to close her eyes and still she could feel the power burning brightly through her closed lids. With a small boom which rocked the entire ship, the glow faded, leaving Sakura to see bright spots of light in the absolute darkness that seemed to envelop the cockpit after the spell was launched and the stones resumed their previous translucent blue shade. Shaking her head and blinking the spots away, she looked towards the view screen only to see the enemy vessels encased in huge chunks of ice, floating lifelessly in space.

"It's a good thing my brother taught me how to harness the power of these stones," Fai chirped happily as he slid his fingers across the console in slow, sweeping motions and _Mokona _shot forth , dodging the frozen ships left and right until less than a minute later they were in open space. "That felt so good."

Shaking her head in slight exasperation, Sakura couldn't help but wonder why the Bat Lord had never gone after this particular magician. Even with a seal locking away most of his power, he was still insanely powerful. Why had that man gone after two little kids instead of this guy? Had he not been weakened by this seal, Fai might have been able to crush Fei's forces singlehandedly, so then why? Powerful as she might have been, she was not even near the blonde's level and he had said she was strong enough to rival the legendary Clow Reed. If that were the case, then wouldn't that mean that Fai would have surpassed Clow Reed?

"Oh, would you look at that!" Fai exclaimed all of a sudden, "there's a button for defensive shields on the consol. How come I failed to notice that before?"

Sakura grit her teeth as her fingernails dug into the soft leather covers of the seat once more. As soon as they landed on Hong Kong, she was strangling the blond.


	42. Into the Fire

_**A/N: this is the unbeta'ed version because I'm a little impatient and I just want to get this up before I lose my motivation to write some more. Besides my little brother is coming home for a visit so my weekend will be booked. ^_^; I'll replace this with the correct version once my Beta sends it back to me, a couple of days at most hopefully. Keep an eye out for the next chapter of Broken too, if all goes well, you'll be getting a new chapter pretty soon. ;) And now, enjoy the update. Don't forget to leave a review.**_

Touya was a little surprised when blue waves of magic rushed through their ship, causing the light pinkish glow of the view-screen to turn purple for a little while before it turned normal once more. He heard the ninja swear at the back along with the medic's worried exclamations. He had a vague idea of who might be responsible for that wave of magic that somehow froze up all the enemy ships in their vicinity yet left _Mokona_ unharmed thanks to the defensive shields he had put up around the vessel as soon as they had left Infinity's atmosphere. Though he was irritated at having been caught off guard, he was a little grateful for the help as well. A chase would end up with them wasting far too much precious time that they could be using to rescue the brat instead.

His fingers danced across the control consol, watching as the commands caused distinct streaks of pink energy to dart towards the view-screen through the intricate carvings on the light silvery metallic walls of the vessel. The screen grew too bright for a fraction of a second, making him flinch and look away as the light grew in intensity before it shot out of the screen with a 'whoosh!' Ripples of magic escaped to the surrounding space in the form of concentric circles, causing the light coming in from the distant stars and galaxies flicker and almost vanish for a second. Then with a loud 'zhoop', the ship was travelling through hyper space for a short while before it all cleared and Clow showed up in the distance. The planet was nothing more than a big brown ball with patches of blue here and there, wispy tendrils of white floating above it surface but it was the place Touya had called home for nearly all his life. It was where he was born and where he grew up. It was the place he always returned to when searching for Sakura became a bit too much for him to handle with all the dead-ends turning up and Yukito would force him to take some time off.

Of course, now he had gotten his Kaijuu back and he had no plans of letting her go this time but then she just _had_ to go and decide on helping rescue the brat. It wasn't the first time Touya wished he could have changed his sister's mind. Now they were all racing to their deaths. Clenching his jaw a little, Touya narrowed his eyes as a _Patroller_ began materializing as a dark speck against the otherwise sandy horizon.

"I think our arrival won't be as quiet as we had hoped for," he let his companions know as he sent the ship into a corkscrew to avoid the shot that had been sent their way from the enemy ship, "one of the _Patrollers_ on the other end must had alerted all base stations." Hissing a little as a second shot fizzled out against their shields, he dared a look over his shoulders. "Either of you know how to man a cannon?" receiving quick nods from both the medic and the ex-captain, Touya let his fingers dance away at the console. A soft hum emitted from the walls on both sides as the seats pushed away from the metal and then sunk into the floor just as Kurogane and Tomoyo unbuckled their seatbelts and got to their feet.

"We're ready." The medic informed him only half a minute later and he looked back to see them both strapped in front of the consoled that were rather similar to his own.

"I'm lowering the shields," he told them just as dozens of dark spots appeared against the sandy surface of the planet, growing larger every passing second. "Here they come."

Touya had never really trusted anyone but Yukito to watch his back for him in all his cycles working as a hunter but he was surprised to note that the medic and the ex-captain seemed to work together just as well. Within half a minute of lowering the defensive shields, Touya had relaxed enough to focus solely on avoiding the _Patrollers_ and leave the part of taking care of their pursuer up to the pair manning _Mokona's_ cannons. Unlike its sister ship, this Black _Mokona_ had been equipped with state of the art defense system which Touya had no doubt had been custom ordered by Ryanban for his precious one of a kind ship.

"Heh," he heard Kurogane scoff as he narrowly avoided colliding with a _Patroller_ that came out in front of them out of nowhere. Half a second later it was nothing but a ball of burning metal and gases as the red-eyed man shot it down, "These guys aren't as good as they were rumored to be."

"Don't get cocky," he warned, pulling _Mokona_ up in a steep climb, before sending it in another corkscrew to lose their pursuer, veering sharply to the right and nose-diving to avoid colliding with a second _Patroller_ before turning with a spin to avoid a third ship. "They might not be up to your usual standards but they make up for what they lack in talent with their numbers."

"We've faced worst than these guys." Tomoyo informed him honestly, "Space-pirates tend to be a lot worse."

"I suppose I'd have to agree with you on that." He found himself replying before turning his attention back to the horde of _Patrollers_ that came to greet them from one of the docking-yards. He eyed one of Clow's moons in the distance. Reed it was called, the second moon being Fujitaka while the third moon had been named Nadeshiko. His mother had been named after the spirit of that moon. Reed was the moon with the smallest orbit, Nadeshiko and Fujitaka orbiting the planet in elliptics that roughly formed the halves of an eight.

There was a point in the day where all three moons came quite close to each other roughly forming a three petalled flower. At that instance, the magnetic fields of the three moons' mingled in such a manner that anything caught between them would short-out. The fields merged in a rather beautiful display of ghostly lights in hues of pale purples, blues and golds, arching and snaking like smoky tendrils reaching out to the stars. Wherever it was visible, people would stop their work to admire the beauty of nature, silently sending prayers to their gods for good luck and safety of their loved ones. There was legend prevalent in some factions of Clow that the spirits of Nadeshiko and Fujitaka reached out wanting to join each other but Reed would always get in between them, pushing them apart until they were forced to part and circle the planet, hoping to reach one another in the next cycle, only to be parted by Reed again.

The entire phenomenon lasted for roughly five minutes but it wasn't the duration of the phenomenon itself that had Touya grinning like a manic at that moment. No, it was the way Reed was approaching Nadeshiko and Fujitaka in the distance that had him grinning. If he timed it right, he'd be able to get rid of the entire party pursuing them, not only leaving them stranded in space but also leaving them with no means to contact the base-station on Clow. Sending a silent prayer to the spirits, Touya sped _Mokona_ towards what would surely be the centre of the three-petalled flower in less than three minutes. Sure enough, even as he sped towards the moons, the tendril of wispy gold began to reach out from Fujitaka towards Nadeshiko before fizzling out midway. The distance between the moons was far too great. Nadeshiko reached out towards Fujitaka with a lavender arm but that too dissolved into nothing as the distance proved too much for it. Ignoring the dread that crept up inside his heart he pushed _Mokona_ to go faster. They _would_ get through.

-0-

Fai seemed to be really enjoying himself from what Sakura could tell as he zipped _Mokona_ past the somewhat startled patrol ships stationed outside the asteroid belt surrounding the planet. The hyper-jump had been a bit of a new experience for Sakura who had never actually travelled that way before. She had always preferred the more conventional methods of travelling instead of creating wormholes in the very fabric of space that had a chance of collapsing any second. But time was a luxury they did not have for that particular mission so she had swallowed up her dislike for it when the blond had first brought up just how they were planning on getting to the opposite ends of the galaxy on such short notice. It wasn't as unpleasant as Sakura had imagined it to be but it wasn't something she'd have said she'd love to do again anytime in the near future.

They were past the blockade and already inside the asteroid belt by the time the pilots inside the _Patrollers_ had gathered enough wits to follow after them. The blond had them zipping left and right, in and out of various space-rocks with a skill that almost made her feel envious. Once or twice a ship grew near enough to try and shoot at them but Fai made full use of the cover the asteroids provided them with, safely getting them through in under ten minutes. "Where to now, Yukito?" the blond asked as they neared the blue-green planet that was obscured in places by thick black clouds which Sakura knew were not rainclouds.

"Head for the Lower District in Sector 86." Was the hunter's answer. With a nod, the pilot veered the ship to the right, heading towards the dark half of the planet where Sakura could see brilliant globs of orange rising from giant furnaces at brief intervals, sending spirals of burning ashes and smoke into the sky. The closer they grew to the planet's surface, the clearer view she had of the monstrous industries erected where lush green forests once grew. It was evident to Sakura from the way Fei Wong had industrialized the planet that this was the Batlord's equivalent of Infinity. She remembered coming here as a child with her mother, her face glued to the viewing bay, eyes wide and mouth gaping open at the beauty of the planet but now as Fai navigated them through the ugly forest of steel and concrete she couldn't help but feel a surge of anger. Fei Wong Reed had robbed this world of its beauty just as he had robbed her and Syaoran and countless others of their youth and carefree childhoods.

"Fai," Chii's face showed up in a window at the view-screen, countless holo-screens with variables, strings of numbers and variables flashing across them as the blond pulled up program after program, "I have hacked into Fei's security network but I can't get you more than five minutes of invisibility from their security bots before they detect me."

"Get me the co-ordinates for the Lower District in Sector 86." Fai asked as he sent the ship into a nosedive pulling up at the last possible minute until _Mokona_ was skimming a few feet above the surface of the planet.

"Here," the brown-eyed blonde said as a series of numbers flashed across the view-screen, "you've only got four more minutes Fai." She warned the pilot before her window vanished from the view-screen.

"Four minutes is more than enough." Sakura could almost see the grin forming on the blond's face as _Mokona_ shot off in a burst of speed once more. As they zipped through the jungle of steel and concrete, Sakura tried to ignore the feeling of dread at being outnumbered that had sunk its claws in the pit of her stomach and thought back on what her employer had said to her before leaving.

"_Reach your destination safely and you may get a lot more help than you expect."_

She doubted Yuuko herself would step up to help them in this little mission of theirs. To do so would mean openly declaring war against the Batlord and as much as the older woman might have wanted to help her, the ruler of Infinity was in no position to do so. She did have the welfare of all other magical beings taking refuge on her planet to take into account. A war would do little to help them.

-0-

The purple tendril reached out, slowly bonding with the strand of light blue before sputtering and dying. Like a lazy snake waking up and rearing its head, a wisp of gold came into life, twisting across the space between the three moons, showing no signs of dying out.

"Shit." Touya hissed as his dread grew tenfold. He had made a slight miscalculation- a miscalculation would end up with them getting stuck in the magnetic field. Sadly, it was too late steer clear of the phenomenon altogether and if he pulled away right then, they'd never be able to lose the horde of _Patrollers_ coming after them. Closing his eyes for a brief moment, he sent a silent prayer to the moon spirits to let them pass before setting _Mokona_ to maximum thrust. Whether his prayers would be heard or not, they'd be finding out in less than three minutes.

"Touya," Tomoyo called in alarm, "the moons are generating their magnetic field."

"I know." He grit out.

"And you're heading straight for it." She decided to point out the obvious.

"I know." He repeated.

"We'll get caught in the magnetic storm." She warned.

"I know." He grunted, pushing the thrusters well beyond their limit.

"Pull up now." Kurogane ordered even as he blew up a _Patroller_ behind them.

"No."

"Damn it," the ex-captain yelled in frustration, "pull up before get sucked in."

"No."

"Touya." It was Tomoyo this time.

"Will the two of you shut up?" he finally snarled, "I know what I'm doing!"

Thankfully the pair returned their focus to getting rid of as many _Patrollers_ as they could before they would get pulled in by the magnetic storm and get stuck in space before the gravitational pull of one of the three moons grew strong enough to make them crash on its surface.

"Come on." Sweat was dotting Touya's brow as they passed Nadeshiko, a strand of purple energy coming to life in their wake. In the distance Fujitaka began creating wisps of its signature blue fields coaxing Reed to produce its own golden tendrils. Ignoring the waves of hot and cold spreading all over his body, the hunter wove _Mokona_ in and out of each and every strand of energy. A direct hit or pass through one would be devastating for _Mokona_ although as it was, the magnetic storm was already affecting the white vessel, the thrusters were slowing down and the engines were overheating. Gritting his teeth, Touya pushed it harder. They had to get through before the storm reached its full intensity. Behind them, flashes of blue, gold and lavender lit up the night sky as their pursuers started getting caught in one field or another. All around them, tendrils danced like the snakes on a gorgon's head.

Every pilot's worst nightmare came true for Touya just when they were three quarters of the way through the storm. _Mokona's_ thrusters shut down with a hiss that echoed throughout the vessel. Swearing explosively, the hunter struggled to control the ship as _Mokona_ lost its primary source of navigation.

"I'm powering off the cannons." He yelled, giving his companions only a second's chance to unbuckle from their seats before _Mokona's_ mainframe pulled in the dual cannons and the sunken seats remerged from the walls just as Tomoyo and Kurogane were dumped unmercifully on the floor. The shields encased the ship in a pale pink bubble, preventing the systems from going offline completely as the magnetic storm hissed and sputtered outside the force-field. Unfortunately for the little rescue party, the worse of the damage had already been done as the gravitational pull of the three moons caused _Mokona _to slow down before coming to a complete halt.

Heaving a frustrated sigh, Touya slumped in his seat, ignoring the angry questions directed towards him by his companions.

They were stuck.

-0-

Sakura suppressed the urge to pull the hood of her cloak further over her face as they walked past a group of hunters. One of the men waved at Yukito as he walked by but thankfully he seemed to be in a hurry for he did not come their way.

"This way Sakura-chan," Yukito said quietly as he turned into a narrow alleyway and led them through the dark space before it opened up into a street of what appeared to be a somewhat cozy yet ominous looking residential area. It was cozy looking in the sense that the houses were all small with tiny gardens and the sloping roofs that seemed to be a norm here in Hong Kong. The gardens themselves were surrounded by neatly trimmed low hedges and fruit bearing trees. Sakura even spotted ponds in a couple of gardens. The windows were round with wooden frames and papery coverings and rectangular lamps with tiny fluttering lights hung from stands outside each of the houses. Sakura could hear the chirping of crick-ants in the grass in the late monsoon air. One would have thought it to be a normal, friendly neighborhood were it not for the fact that the people inhabiting it were far from friendly.

Yukito had, after landing, not given them much time to prepare or that much of an explanation before he had rushed them out of _Mokona_ and pulled them across various winding streets before they had ended up in this colony. Fai had cleverly parked _Mokona_ in a surprisingly old and abandoned factory like structure that stood out in the middle of the concrete forest so they had little to worry about it being discovered. Why no one had bothered to knock it down and build something different in its place escaped her but the blond had told her that not many knew of its existence. Only a select few could approach this place because it was hidden by magic. That in itself had been surprising for the information thief though the blond pilot had only laughed when she had pointed out why Fei had been oblivious to such blatant use of magic on the planet he considered to be the capital of his power.

"Of course Fei Wong doesn't know about this place, Sakura. It would beat the purpose of having it magically concealed in the first place, no?"

Yukito had nodded along, mentioning how he had heard rumors of the existence of such a place from some of his fellow hunters who had even gone so far so as to use sealed magicians to try and track it down on Fei's orders but it had been given up once no traces had been found. Fai had explained that the reason why only a select few could find the place was because of the nature of the spell itself and the concrete structures surrounding the building.

When asked to elaborate, Fai had questioned her about why, despite there having been an asteroid belt surrounding the planet, no space rocks ever bombarded the surface of the planet where it was populated and why only the rocks fell in places that were still unoccupied.

"There are shields protecting the various occupied districts here." Sakura had answered, "They obviously work on magic because were actually devised by one of the previous rulers, Li Han the Second, if I recall correctly."

"Ah," Fai had grinned at that, "but do you know _where_ these shield generators are located?"

"Supposedly they're underground though obviously no details of the generators exist in the databases anywhere. Well except for perhaps the mainframes running the generators themselves."

"The mainframes and the generators used to produce the shields emit such a powerful magical aura that any other magic is easily cloaked in that place." He had explained.

"You mean to say…"

"That abandoned factory that we just left behind," his eyes had twinkled at that, "it's sitting right on top of one such generator so obviously no one can detect the magic cloaking it unless of course they know the nature of the spell used to cloak it and know the password spell to get it to show."

"Impressive." Yukito had nodded in approval.

Clouds rumbled in the distance though the sky was mercifully clear for now, littered in a few places with dimly lit stars and asteroids. Every few minutes, she would see a star or two shoot across the horizon though they disintegrated into nothing long before hitting the ground. Sakura suspected the protective shields had a hand in that phenomenon. Their purpose was not only to protect the colonies they covered but to also destroy the falling rocks before they could hit the ground.

Sakura heaved a sigh of relief as they walked past a group of hunters chattering hunters. When Sakura had asked Yukito about why they could not have disguised with themselves before moving out into the open, the hunter had informed her about the added security measures of District 86. A few cycles back, there had been an attempt at an uprising by a few of the sealed magicians though it had been quickly put down by Fei's hunters. It had all been hushed up so not many knew about it but Yukito mentioned having learnt about it from a contact he had in the upper echelons of the hunters' society. According to Yukito's contact, Fei Wong had taken a few additional measures to ensure his control over the captive magicians.

One of these measures had been the installation of alarms that detected the use of unauthorized magic anywhere in the hunter controlled districts. Thus was to ensure that magic could only be used if Fei or one of his trusted henchmen had given permission to the magicians. Severe punishments were to be handed out to any who were found using it otherwise. Sakura had nodded dejectedly upon hearing that. If they were to use magic, the aura would immediately be detected and the hunters would swarm them faster than they could breathe. Yukito had not stopped his explanation there though. He had gone on to explain how the installation of these alarms had not been enough for Fei for he had introduced a new concept in the hunter society after that uprising. A new rank had been established amongst the hunters.

"Handlers." Fai had hissed out unexpectedly. Of course they had not felt the need to elaborate further on that simply because all three knew what a handler was and what their purpose in the hunters was.

To put it simply, a handler was a high-ranking hunter that generally did not posses magic but was given an unruly magician to 'break' and turn into a mindless, obedient drone for Fei Wong's army. Each handler's charge- a free-spirited mage or witch- was given an additional seal on top of the one that limited their magic. This seal linked them directly to their handler and enabled the handler to punish them if the mage were to step out of line that is disobey orders. Handlers were the worst type of hunters for they were cruel and sadistic generally enjoying pain so much they sometimes punished their wards for no reason whatsoever. Their behavior was not frowned upon by what counted as the authority amongst the hunters for the sole reason that it broke the magicians much quicker.

Although Fai had not said anything about it himself, Sakura had seen the way Fai had been tormented by Kyle onboard _Little Dragon_ before the pilot had sent her away to Infinity and she couldn't help but wonder if perhaps the seal placed on Fai was something of a prototype for the seal used by the Handlers. It had been quite clear that despite his weaker magic, Kyle had some sort of power over Fai.

Yukito led them down various streets, sometimes nodding at a greeting sent their way by a hunter or two. "I'm a known face around here thanks to my contact." He had answered the unasked question as he had finally stopped walking outside a cozy-looking home that was not much different from the others surrounding it. "Who is not home right now." He frowned thoughtfully as he looked at the put out lamp hanging outside the door. "You guys wait here while I ask around. Don't talk to anyone and don't attract attention to yourself. Oh and don't use any magic. I'll be right back, okay?" he was gone before Sakura or Fai had a chance to respond.

Hardly three minutes would have gone by before a group of hunters turned around the corner at the far end of the street, opposite to the one Yukito had vanished at.

"I think it would be best if we stayed out of sight." Fai suggested quietly as he jumped over the hedge and crouched behind it before the hunters took notice of either of them. Sakura quickly followed suit. After all, it would be best to remain hidden if they were not to draw attention to themselves. Sakura held her breath as the hunters stopped right on the other side of the hedge talking about a thunderstorm that was expected to reach that sector the next morning. They mentioned something about the arrival of a new weapon at the palace and Sakura resisted the urge to jump out of the hedge and attack them, demanding to know where Syaoran was. It was somewhat unnerving how she had not seen or heard from him again after she had made up her mind to help it. It was almost as if he had been appearing to her on Infinity just to convince her to come rescue him.

Recalling all other little things that he had done so far, it did fit his character a little. Maybe he knew she was coming which was why he had stopped bothering her now. Probably his way of letting her know that he was waiting for her. It wouldn't surprise her much if that truly were the case. A pair of female hunters, a Handler and magician pair from the looks of the tattoos adorning one of the women's skin, approached the group, the Handler quickly dismissing the loitering hunters in frigid tones while her charge, already somewhat broken from the dejected look on her face, only stood by in complete silence.

The female handler waited until the group was completely out of sight before turning to her charge for a brief moment, snarling at her to get moving again as she herself turned around and entered the garden of the house Sakura and Fai were hiding in. Sakura was thankful for the shadows hiding the pair of them from sight because she was quite sure if this woman were to discover them, there was no way in hell, they would not have to use magic to get away. This handler exuded an aura of cold power. She silently prayed for Yukito to hurry back with his contact as she risked a glance back at the street just as the Handler and her charge reached the door of the tiny house and the handler worked to open the lock. Looking away was probably a stupid mistake on Sakura's part for the very next moment the air was filled with the sound whistling knives that were heading her way just as crimson streaks of magic lashed out at Fai.

Sakura paid for her momentary inattention in the way that she barely had a chance to dodge the knives from hitting her before she was pinned to the ground by a snarling Handler, her crimson eyes narrowed in anger as she glared at Sakura.

"Who the fuck do you think you are to come parading around my house?" Sakura found her eyes widening at the face that was looking down at her at that moment, vaguely aware of Fai trying to fend off the handler's charge without having to call on his own magic. "Did you really think I wouldn't pick up your auras?"

_**A/N: Trouble found both Sakura's group and Touya's group. Whatever will become of them now? How will Sakura and Fai get out of this situation without alerting Fei about their presence or bringing even more hunters upon them? And with **_**Mokona**_** out of commission, how will Touya and Co. get to Clow?**_

_**Oh just a little tidbit. Being an engineering student, I can assure you that as far as my knowledge of physics goes, the phenomenon with the moons mentioned in this chapter is not a possibility in real life. Though it'd be one beautiful sight to behold (at least the way I have imagined it in my head it would be. ^_^; ) **_

_**Anyhow, care to take a guess about the identity of this mysterious contact of Yukito's?**_


	43. Blast from the Past

_**A/N: I know. I know. I took a really long time to update but in my defense a LOT of stuff has happened that has distracted me from pretty much everything else and well… lets just say I'm slowly staring to get back on track though sadly, I still have a tough month ahead of me what with finals coming up in a couple of weeks and then I have my final year project defense after which I will finally be a graduate! Yay. But then I'll have to start looking for a job and think about what I want to do with my life and whatnot. *sighs* being a grown up is hard work… -_- I wish I could go back to being a carefree kid again. Anywho, enough of my ramblings. I'm sure you'd rather read the story. ;) ;)**_

_**So yeah, Enjoy~**_

Magic crackled in the air, coming to Sakura's defense and throwing the Handler into the wall of the house. With a cry of rage the unnamed female mage redirected the spell she had been launching at Fai and sent it the auburn haired girl's way instead. Sakura ducked out of the way of the first spell but the second spell caught her by surprise, burning her flesh and making her scream in pain as she was sent crashing into Fai. Invisible alarms started blaring all around them as the magic tripped whatever detection mechanism was in place.

Cursing under her breath, Sakura hurried to her feet, feeling Fai summon what little magic he could spare to the surface as well as the Handler and her mage got ready to face off against them.

"What the heck are you doing?" Before any of them could break the little stand-off, Yukito's sudden cry took them all by surprise.

"Stay back, Yue." The female magician seemingly warned Yukito without even so much as looking at him as she flicked her fingers through the air and a crimson spell came to life in the space before her. Sakura took note of the foreign name the woman had used. He probably went by a different name when dealing with the hunters here.

"No! Stop." He yelped, jumping over the hedge to and rushing to stand between the two pairs. "They're with me." The female magician let go of the spell upon hearing that and Sakura saw the Handler relax her stance as well. Yukito on the other hand stiffened when he heard the sound of more Hunters coming their way, "We can't be seen by anyone." He told the Handler urgently.

"What do you mea-" the female magician started but she cut off when they all heard the distinct sound of hunters yelling instructions in the distance.

The Handler whirled on her heels, unlocking the door with a quick swipe of her fingers against the keypad. "Quick," she barked, pushing the door open before grabbing hold of her charge- the unnamed female magician- and pulling her towards the hedge, "get them inside."

"Let's go." Yukito caught hold of Sakura's wrist, dragging her towards the word and motioning for Fai to do the same. The door swung shut behind them and not a second later they heard the female mage let out a blood-curdling scream. Sakura wrenched her hand from the bespectacled man's grip and turned around to race outside only to have her path blocked by Fai.

"Don't." He said through grit teeth, his expression stony and his jaw clenched, "she's covering for us."

"Wha-?" she made to push him aside as the magician outside screamed even louder, "she's being tortured!" she hissed angrily when the blond refused to budge. If possible, Fai's jaw tightened even more at the sound of the magician's screams.

"That's the cover for illegal use of magic." Yukito whispered hurriedly, looking quite green in the face as he pulled her deeper into the house. The woman's screams died and she heard the hunters say something to the Handler on the other side of the door. "They'll need a reason for the tripped alarms. She'll put the blame on her charge."

"That Handler is using her own charge to cover for us?" Sakura pulled free from Yukito's hold on her as she quickly made her way towards the paper window she had spotted from the outside. Cautiously sliding it open just a fraction of an inch she felt Fai walk up behind her. The gas lamp that was lit up right outside covered their faces in the relative darkness of the house from anyone looking in. Sakura bit her lip, watching the previously proud-looking female magician lying in a pitiful crumpled heap at the feet of her handler, the former's body shivering and trembling for the aftershocks of whatever spell had been used on her. Her Handler was talking to a group of round about ten armed hunters, her expression one of cool detachment as she eyed the magician at her feet before turning her attention to the hunters before her.

"Are you sure Madam?" one of the hunters was saying to the Handler, "We could take her away to be disciplined a little more."

"If I am in need of assistance, I would let you know myself Captain." The Handler responded coolly as she kicked the female mage in the ribs, "just because this bitch thought she might be able to take me by surprise this time around…" here she gave a cold grin that caused an invisible shudder to race down Sakura's spine. A soft crimson glow surrounded the female mage just as her Handler snapped her fingers sharply before a spark of magic raced through her entire body and she let out another deafening scream. Sakura watched on as the Handler tortured her charge for the sake of covering up their illegal use of magic before she let go of whatever spell it was that was tormenting the female magician. The woman spat in the Handler's face with a look of pure loathing and rage even though she was trembling quite badly.

Sakura held her breath as the Handler wiped her face before punching the female mage in the stomach causing the latter to groan in pain before curling up in a fetal position just as the Handler turned her attention back to the Hunters, "I am perfectly capable of teaching my charge gentlemen. You can leave now." Then without waiting for another response from the men, she bent to wrap her fingers around the magician's shoulder-length hair that she then used to bodily drag her towards the house."I will see you in the afternoon tomorrow." The Handler threw nonchalantly over her shoulder as she paused halfway. Fai made a noise of disgust as he reached out and slid the window close before moving towards the door as Sakura heard the unmistakable sound of the Handler dragging her charge towards the door.

"I want an explanation, _now._" The Handler hissed the minute she was through the door as she marched up to Yukito while Fai moved on to help the unnamed female magician to her feet before supporting her to a small couch. The woman slumped on the seat, looking pale and rather sickly as opposed to the strong person Sakura had seen outside when she had been attacked by the magician. "What is the meaning of you dragging not one but _two_ frigging _unregistered_ magicians to Hunter Central?" The Handler snarled as she towered over Yukito. "I used my charge as a scapegoat for a reason I don't know so it better be good."

"We have found your cousin." Yukito's reply caused the Handler to gasp and take a step back. The anger drained from her eyes as she collapsed on the sofa in a graceless heap.

"Y-You found him?" the red-eyed woman stuttered, looking at Yukito in wide-eyed disbelief. Sakura noticed the female magician push Fai away as she too sat up a little straighter, despite the sickly pallor of her skin. "Where is he?"

"Mei-chan," Yukito sighed and Sakura's gaze snapped back to the red-eyed handler. That name… Mei-chan.

"_You're just a fat little Kaijuu."_

"_I am not. You don't have to be mean like my Onii-san."_

"_I am _not_ like that jerk! And you're still a Kaijuu."_

.

.

.

"_Your cousin was being mean to me again Shao-lan-kun. I don't like her when she calls me a Kaijuu… I'm not a monster."_

"_Mei-chan is just mad that my magic doesn't like her as much as you."_

"_Well… maybe if she wasn't so mean, it would like her too."_

"You're Li Mei-ling!" Sakura exclaimed, taking in the familiar lines of her face. It had lost its childish chubbiness that she recalled in her memories, growing sharper with age giving a little bit of a cruel edge to her features but there was no mistaking her identity. This formidable handler who did not hesitate to use her own charge as a scapegoat was the jealous girl who used to tease her endlessly with her brother, all because her cousin's magic liked Sakura more than her.

"No one has called me by that name since…" the woman frowned, squinting at Sakura as though struggling to recall where she had seen her before. The information thief watched her expression shift from confusion to realization to delight as stood back up and hesitantly approached her, "Sakura-chan?"

Sakura smiled softly in confirmation and found herself being pulled into a bone-crushing hug.

"Touya must be so delighted to have finally found you," the woman, Mei-ling breathed as she pulled away to look at her. To Sakura, it seemed as though if she was memorizing her face, afraid to have her vanish the very next second. "Speaking of which, why isn't that bastard here in person to tell me? And you say you found Xiao-lang too." She grinned, looking back at Yukito. "Well? Where is he?"

Yukito's solemn expression made her smile crumble as she looked back at Sakura worriedly.

"What's wrong?"

"Do you know about Fei Wong's latest weapon Meiling?" If the handler noticed Sakura's omission of the honorific with her name, she chose to ignore it in favor of focusing on the more pressing issue. Sakura knew it might be weird for someone so used to using the honorific system of addressing to suddenly be addressed in such a familiar or rather rude manner but having given up on the custom herself back when she lost her memories, Sakura found it a little weird herself having to add something like that to anyone's name when she addressed them. Meiling would just have to get used to her rudeness. *

"Just that it's supposed to be unstoppable," she replied as her frown deepened, "and that it was recently reacquired by one of his most trusted men. They brought it here a couple of days ago."

"The weapon is not an 'it', Miss." Fai piped up from his position beside the female magician all of a sudden.

"You are?" Meiling turned around, quirking a brow at the blond.

"My name is Yuui," the pilot offered with a slight tip of his head.

"You're the rogue that destroyed the Research Facility." The handler breathed, looking back at Sakura in shock as though wondering why in the world she was associating herself with a criminal like that.

"Moreover," Fai continued, climbing to his feet, "I am also the mage that was in-charge of Project Tsubasa."

"Why are you telling me this?" Meiling questioned sharply, "Why are you three here? Yuki, what are you guys getting at? Why isn't Touya her ? You say you've found Xiao-lang so where is he" To Sakura, the handler appeared more and more like a cornered animal with every successive question. "And why the heck are you beating around the bushes with these roundabout questions? What aren't you telling me?"

"I think you might already know the answers to some of your questions," Fai replied before either she or Yukito could speak up.

"No… That's ridiculous," the handler laughed shakily, her face losing all color as she looked at Sakura and Yukito for confirmation of her fears. "It can't be… He wouldn't… not to him… Not to Xiao-lang…"

"Fei Wong's secret weapon," Sakura nodded grimly, "It _is_ Syaoran."

-0-

"Are we just going to sit here and wait until one of the moons pulls us in?" Touya heard Kurogane grunt as he climbed to his feet from the floor and walked over to the control console. The hunter said nothing in reply because he had nothing to _say._

"Well… on the bright side, at least none of the hunters can come after us," Tomoyo pointed out hopefully, "we would still have been shooting them down if the field had not caught up to us."

"I would have preferred being shot down to crashing on a lifeless rock." The red-eyed ex-captain snorted, "was getting us stranded a part of your brilliant plan?"

Touya ignored the man, choosing instead to focus his energies on trying to figure out a way to get Mokona moving before the gravitational pull made them crash on one of the moons. Maybe he could try and reroute the power from the canons blasters to the thrusters? But that would leave them defenseless against any further attacks and the shields could handle only so much. They were already operating at half capacity. A blast from one of their disabled pursuers jolted Mokona and Touya cursed under his breath.

_Warning! Shields at 40%_

Great, make that less than half…

Maybe if they-

"Touya, activate the cannons." Tomoyo ordered.

"The shields are the only thing currently protecting us," he replied, running a frustrated hand through his hair, "if I activate the cannons we will be like sitting ducks out here."

"The shields are going to die in a couple more hits." The medic pointed out, "I think I know of a way to get us out of this problem."

"And that's by letting down the shields?" he quirked a brow.

"No. I'd have preferred it if we could keep the shields but… just do as I say for now?"

"Not until I hear what you have in mind." He replied stubbornly, even as he silently gave the mainframe the command to power up the blasters. He'd wait to activate them until he had heard what she had in mind but if there was a possibility it could work, he wouldn't want to waste a lot of time getting out of there lest they become trapped in the gravitational pull of one of the moons.

"We can use the momentum of generated by firing blasters to get to a point where we are past Clow's freefall range. Once inside, gravity should do the rest of the work for us."

"that's… brilliant," he said tiredly, running his hand through his hair once more, "but you do realize that once we're falling we will crash into the surface and that won't really be of much help to the brat or anyone else."

"You could always try and steer us close to the place we have to get to and maybe…"

"Maybe what?"

"Oi! Quit putting her down. Unlike you, at least she came up with _something."_ Kurogane growled angrily and Touya had to resist the urge to wring his neck. Now was not the time to act like a possessive little jealous puppy.

"You can steer the ship to crash-land us near the destination." The medic interrupted him just before he could give the captain a piece of what exactly he thought of the man, "The shields should be strong enough to keep us from blowing up at impact, right?"

Touya tried to recall the stuff about shield strengths he had gone over with Yukito before a raid once upon a time. Another blast rocked the ship and Touya felt them move a little towards Nadeshiko.

_Warning! Shields at 35%_

Cursing under his breath, Touya hurriedly pulled up the commands to release the cannons. If this kept up, they would all die for sure. At least this way, they would die knowing they tried.

"I hope you're right." Touya said to the medic as the seat sunk back into the vessel and the blasters controls emerged in their place. "The last blast knocked us towards Nadeshiko. Tomoyo, take the right blaster, Kurogane the left one. Fire when I tell you to. The propellers won't work until we hit the atmo so until then, you two will be steering us in the right direction."

Moving like a pair of trained troops, they both manned the cannons, following his commands perfectly, the force of the blasts slowly but surely directing them towards their initial destination. It was not the most ideal way to move but it was all that they had. "Keep firing every half minute until I tell you to stop." He directed the pair.

"Why? What are you going to do?"

"Calling in some reinforcements."

"The heck does that mean?" Touya heard Kurogane question in the distance as he closed his eyes and felt himself immediately lost in the inky blackness of space that separated the minds of magicians. Searching for one mind in particular, Touya floated around for what felt like ages but knew in fact to be no more than a few seconds back in the physical world, he latched in on the magical signature he seeked. Checking around for others in close proximity to his target and finding none, Touya sent a tiny magical ping, patiently waiting for confirmation from the other magician. He did not have to wait for long to receive the response.

"_Prince Touya, to what do I owe the pleasure?"_

"_I haven't been a prince in a very long time, I still don't get why you insist on calling me that."_

"_Because the throne shall one day belong to you again and I wouldn't want to be sent to the gallows because I failed to give you the proper respect you deserved?"_

"_You and I both know Yukito would have a lot to say in that regard if _that _was the reason I sent you to the gallows. _If_ I ever get the throne back that is."_

"_As nice as it is to talk to you again, I'm guessing the reason why it is you and not Yukito who contacted me, you need help?"_

"_Yeah… I'm in a bit of a pinch here."_

"…_what do you want from me?"_

"_A bit of distraction and a ride underground would be nice."_

"_How long will you be?"_

"_At the rate we're going, I'd say we'll be crashing in the desert in about fifteen clicks."_

"_Twenty minutes huh?"_

"_Give or take a few."_

"_You said _we_. Yukito is with you too? Is he okay? Why didn't he-"_

"_No he's not with me and yes, hopefully he's okay. I've got two civvies with me."_

"_What's going on Touya?"_

"_Some really precious cargo was moved into the facility recently, right?"_

"_Please tell me you're not going after it."_

"_That is exactly what we are after."_

"_I hope you realize if I die helping you out, I'm coming back to haunt you."_

"_Well, just remember to wear something sexy before you die then."_

"_And have your crazy girlfriend exorcise me? No thank you."_

He felt distant jolts toss about his body in the physical realm and realized they were hitting the atmosphere. Knowing that time was running out, he started drawing away.

"_I'll see you real soon. We're hitting the atmo so I need to get going."_

"_Send me a signal when you get here."_

Blearily he opened his eyes, taking in the sight of burning air on the other side of the viewscreen.

"Tomoyo, Kurogane, turn the blasters at one eighty degrees and fire a steady beam." He ordered, hurriedly routing power to the ships rudders and rotors, "We need to lose some velocity before I steer."

The pair did as told, Touya watching the speed monitor with bated breath. They were still in free fall but thanks to the fire, they had slowed down a fraction. Knowing it was the best he could hope for, Touya carefully directed the ships trajectory towards the ruins right outside of Clow's capital.

"Okay, cut the beams." He threw over his shoulder, keeping one eye on the speedometer while the other was glued to the controls as he started pulling up commands for the shields, sending backup power to the shield generators to strengthen their final product. Unfortunately for them, one of the patrollers seemed to have gotten the same idea as them because the sky suddenly lit up with narrowly missed blaster shots from their pursuers. Cussing violently under his breath, Touya tried to keep the ship from spiraling out of control, hoping against hope that the chasers would keep in missing their ship because once he pulled up the shields, He would not have any way to steer Mokona anymore.

The rudders needed a steady stream of air blowing through them to adjust the ship's path without the engines functional. Luck however, it seemed was not completely on their side as one of the blasts hit a little too close for comfort, sending Mokona into an uncontrollable spin. Tomoyo let out a surprised scream as the ship whirled about its own axis. Touya thought he saw one of the ship's wings fly off out of the rear view but it could have been just a trick of his eye as they spun and spun and spun. He did catch an explosion in the sky for a brief moment as the view-screen kept showing the sky and the quickly closing up desert horizon in swift cycles. At a drop of only about hundred feet from the ground, Touya threw the shield generator on in full blast, crossing his fingers and praying to all the spirits of the world that his sister had not had to experience as scary a landing as this.

Touya hit his head against some part of the ship that came loose from its fixture in the steel frame of the ship as his world dissolved into inky nothingness moments before they hit the ground with a bone shattering blast. A mighty shower of sand and debris was flying everywhere, visible from miles away.

A cloaked figure cursed under its breath, having seen the show from the top of the outer wall of Capital City. Clenching their fists, the person lowered their head and hurriedly turned away, descending the stairs that lead back into the city. Only half a minute later, guards and hunters were rushing from all parts of the city towards the walls where a series of explosions had started sending the citizens and its supposed protectors in a state of frenzied panic.

_**A/N: It's not beta'd so if you spot any mistakes feel free to point them out. I'm sorry to leave you all hanging on such a major cliffie here (a-gain!) but things are definitely going to pick up the pace from here. I think it will be about five more chapters before the end so yeah, we're nearing the final, epic battle with the whole race against time scenario added to the mix. How many of you are saddened to hear this story is about to end? I know I am. It has been really fun writing this story. It's been about two years since I started working on this. Actually, it's been one year and eleven months. When I started out with this fic, I never imagined it would receive such a positive response from you guys but I'm glad you stuck with me till now, putting up with my stupid mistakes in un-beta'd chapters and long delays between updates when I hit blocks. I appreciate each and every one of you guys for sticking with me and I hope you'll have enough patience to put up with my delays and mistakes for a little longer. **_

_**Thinking about the past has put me in a nostalgic mood for some reason. *sighs* What were your favorite parts in this story? You know the part that you read and you went 'Oh My God!' or… something like that ^_^; I personally loved the three chapters revealing Yuui's past the most out of everything but I'm a little biased towards him anyways. I would absolutely love to hear from you guys because seriously people, this story is about to draw to an end and with my university life coming to an end as well… it's kinda like I feel like everything is drawing to a close but! A new chapter will soon begin and I'm hopeful it will turn out to be fun.**_

_**Well this has turned out to be a really long A/N so I'll put an end to it now but before I say 'until next time' I'd just like to say that to all THE VAMPIRE DIARIES fans out there I'm putting up a crossover oneshot for that one with TRC. It's titled 'How I met Mr. Flourite.' so feel free to check it out. ;) ;)**_

***I'm not really sure but I think it is considered rude to address someone without an honorific in the Japanese culture without having their explicit permission unless you are really close with them, right?**


	44. One Step Closer

**_A/N: I am so so so sooooo sorry for not updating this story. I had this chapter written out for over a month now and I really thought I had updated it but as it would turn out, I wrote it down and then seemed to forget all about it, all the while thinking that I had put it up. I'd like to thank _**Bookworm5738 **_for reminding me last night that I had to still update this story. I'll be bugging my beta to go over this herself today though for the time being, I'm putting up the un-beta'd version of the chapter which just so you know, I did scrutinize over myself but then again, I always think my beta does a better job so I'll be replacing this with the one she sends me later on._**

**_And now, enjoy the update~ _**

He felt weightless. A lightless, soundless bubble surrounded him, detaching him from reality. All of a sudden, ribbons of magic latched onto his body, dragging him down and down until he slammed into reality. Groaning at the pounding that viciously attacked his head the minute he came to, he opened his eyes and blearily looked around. Inky black eyes met his gaze, their owner's face framed by tightly curled, equally black hair.

"Xing Hou?" he croaked weakly, bringing a hand to his temple where the pounding seemed to be the worst. His fingers came off wet, stained crimson by his blood. "What… What are you doing here?"

"Come on," the dark haired woman responded as she grabbed his arm and struggled to hurriedly get him to his feet, "the ship is about to explode. We need to get away."

"Ship?" he couldn't help but ask as her tried to recall what had happened. Shaking his head to get rid of the disorientation, he clambered to an almost upright position with her help before he remembered his companions. "Where are the others?"

"I don't know but we need to go." She replied with an urgent shake of her head as she started pulling him towards a gaping hole in the hull of the ship. He could see the desert bathed in silver moonlight right beyond the opening, the desert wind feeling nearly freezing against his skin as it blew. Sparks shot from torn wires all around him, the smell of engine fuel spilling from the tanks permeating the air like a thick fog. The charges danced and arced across the air periodically as they shot across the wrecked ship.

"Wait wait." He dug his heel into the metal flooring, eyes desperately searching for the others in the dimness, "We need to find them."

"Touya, we don't have time to look for them. This place can go up any second."

"We can't leave them here." He argued. The medic and her fiancé had both been manning the blasters but he could find no trace of them near the control panels. A low moan drew his attention towards the darkened end of the cockpit, near the very back and Touya hurried in that direction, Xing Hou close at his heels.

"Tomoyo," he crouched next to the unconscious woman, trying to gently shake her awake as he scanned the ship for the red-eyed man.

"Am I dead?" the medic groaned, weakly pushing off the ground into a sitting position as she looked around in confusion. "You will be if we don't get out of here fast." The Xing Hou replied in his stead as she hurried forward to help the medic up while Touya's gaze landed on Kurogane's unconscious form. Leaving the witch to help Tomoyo, he moved to the red-eyed man's side, trying in vain to rouse him.

A tiny fire started on the other end of the ship, forcing the hunter to give up on trying to wake the man up. Instead, he began calling on his magic to help lift his heavy body off the floor as he quickly began to drag the unconscious man towards the opening in the hull while Xing supported Tomoyo outside ahead of him. The fire spread at an alarming rate behind them, as though urging the hunter to try and get out fast. They had only managed to clear a distance of about fifteen meters before Mokona blew up in a brilliant haze of gold and yellow and fiery red.

-0-

Blood pounded in his ears as their feet collided with the sandstone floor of the secret tunnel. If he closed his eyes and ignored the panting breathes of his companions behind him, Touya could almost imagine himself being back here on that night. The night that started it all, his mother hurrying him along to the entrance of the tunnels with the Kaijuu's warm weight pressing up against his back in a comforting manner as explosions and shouts and screams rocked up the entire city- no, their entire world. That was the last time he had ever seen his mother, standing there tall and proud with tears in her eyes as she pushed him inside and wordlessly told him to protect his little sister through a desperate gaze. Then as the opening had closed up behind him, he had seen her turn away from them, wiping tears before they could flow down her face as her magic had risen all around her in magnificent golden tendrils, their familiar aura mingled with a deadly determination that he had been able to feel a long way away from the place where they had parted until… it had all gone out like a candle being snuffed out in the dark of the night.

He had known then in his heart that she was gone. That their mother was gone just like their father had gone while trying to protect his precious family and his precious world. Now here he was, the exiled prince of that conquered kingdom, setting foot in the very tunnels he had used to escape a long time ago. He was back after so many cycles of purposefully having stayed away but then again, maybe this forced return was fates way of telling him that he had to do something to reclaim what had been lost. He _was_ the crown prince after all so maybe, today with this tiny band of rebels he would be able to spark something that would flare up into a revolution. He was not foolish enough to think that this act alone would be enough but maybe it could be the start. He would have to go over everything in more detail with Yukito and Sakura once they were done with this but now that his hunt for his little Kaijuu was finally over, he would be able to try and turn his attention to another thing that had been long due.

Ancient magic that was dormant for the nearly twenty cycles past sluggishly rose to greet the returning prince as they came to a halt outside a blank stretch of wall, not unlike any other walls of the cavern so far. The path seemed to carry on ahead to a long winding staircase that rose higher and higher and higher till it reached the palace. Back the way they had come, this path opened up into a very normal looking stretch of the desert that did not look any different from the rest of the vast deserts that covered the surface of Clow. His companions paused right behind him, wordlessly watching him as he reached out with a hand and gently caressed the weathered stone. He could feel their curious gazes on his back but he ignored them. The magic thrummed beneath his fingers, greeting him like an old friend as slowly runes began to appear in the stone from the point where his skin made contact, slowly rippling outwards as an illusion surrounded the four standing in front of the secret entrance- hiding them completely from prying eyes.

Pulling out his sword, Touya made a shallow cut in the palm of his hand, watching the crimson liquid well up before he smeared it across the stone in offering. He had to pay the toll for all four of them since none of the others were of the Royal bloodline of Clow and thus were never actually intended to set foot in this sacred cavern. He wasn't sure if any of the others understood the significance of this act but he did not have the time to impress it upon them. But as they all ducked inside through the slowly opening wall behind them, watching the stones shift with something akin to fascination, Tomoyo met his gaze with a tender looking smile, as though wordlessly thanking him for all that he was doing for them. Shaking his head, he looked away. He never did have a choice in the matter did he now? The minute his Kaijuu had decided to help the brat, he knew he would be following right after her. It wasn't like he would allow himself to lose her a second time.

"From what Xing has told me, the shipment is being kept one of the branches that break off the main tunnels and-"

"Don't talk about the kid like he's not even human." Growled the red-eyed man, causing Touya to pause for a moment.

"The cargo is a person?" Xing turned her surprised gaze to Touya from where she had bent down to observe one of the half dried up fountains that trickled water down the outcropping rocks and into the lake in the middle of the cavern.

"It's the Li brat," he responded trying to keep his tone casual though a pang of regret and guilt did assault him as he thought about how tough life must have been for the brunette.

"Mei's younger cousin?" she asked quirking a brow.

"Yeah, him." he replied, ignoring the looks Tomoyo and Kurogane shot him, he began purposefully marching through the sand, suppressing the sigh that threatened to escape his lips as he caught sight of the nearly dried up reservoir. These sacred grounds had always required a priestess to look after them, her prayers causing the water to remain bountiful and healthy but now without his mother or his sister performing the duty, it was slowly dying and there wasn't much he could do about that either. "There are several ways to get to where he is being kept using the tunnels outside but there we might just end up running into one of the patrol guards. Today is the first time anyone except for the Royal blood of Clow has ever set foot inside this cave. I know of a few passages that can get us there undetected but once we have left this place, I expect you all to be so quiet _you_ shouldn't be able to hear yourself breathe."

And then without waiting for any of them to speak, he was smearing his palm against another outcropping rock and silently watching as the stones began to shift aside and form a sandstone staircase going even further down.

-0-

_"No… That's ridiculous," the handler laughed shakily, her face losing all color as she looked at Sakura and Yukito for confirmation of her fears. "It can't be… He wouldn't… not to him… Not to Xiao-lang…"_

_"Fei Wong's secret weapon," Sakura nodded grimly, "It _is_ Syaoran."_

For just a minute, Meiling wanted to give in to the never ending spiral of guilt and panic that threatened to consume her as she gazed into those green, green eyes. Eyes that seemed to hold so many regrets as though half of what had happened to her cousin was the fault of this person standing before her. But that couldn't be right. She had known from Touya that Sakura had been missing for just as long and no word of her ever having been an accomplice of Fei had ever reached Meiling. And that was saying something because the red-eyed Li had taken it upon herself to find a position in the heart of that bastard's den to find what she could about her remaining family. In a way what she had done had not been any different than Touya but while the prince had taken up the position of a lowly grunt that kept out of Fei's attention, Meiling for her rather distant relations to the main house of the Lis had been able to worm her way to the top, never caring who else she had to take down in her quest to get there.

It had been difficult to pretend like it didn't matter to her- all those things she had done, lives she had destroyed, all to find this one person. It had been hope that had kept her going. Hope that by being at the top, she'd be able to protect him. That was the only reason why she had ever been able to look herself in the mirror each day but now to suddenly find out that she had failed in that one goal a long long time ago, it was becoming rather hard for her to draw the next breath.

But she knew she did not have that luxury. No. She _could_ not afford that luxury. Not when… not when Fei was planning on using Xiao-Lang the way he was.

"Your magic is familiar." Her charge spoke up, suddenly pulling Meiling out of the thick, confusing waters she seemed to have submerged in. She turned around to find the witch staring at Yuui with a puzzled frown before her gaze turned sharp as she jumped to her feet, towering over the still seated blond. "Why is your magic a part of the city's security system?"

"It's not my magic." The blond responded in a tone she couldn't quite place.

"Could have fooled me." The witch snorted in disbelief as she glowered at the blue-eyed man.

"Fei Wong tore apart countless homes and families in his thirst for power Miss." He replied in a voice of forced calm. "Mine was no different."

"Even family members don't have as identical magical signatures as what I'm getting from you now." She insisted rather stubbornly. Her stubbornness had been one of the reasons why she had ended up with Meiling in the first place.

"What about identical twins?" he finally shot back, looking rather angry for someone who had appeared so composed only a moment before. "I'd appreciate it if you would stop trying to pry into matters that don't concern you." For all his righteous anger, the blond was rewarded by a rather sharp slap from her charge, the latter's eyes blazing in fury as she glowered at the man.

"I have a fucking seal placed on me using _your_ twin's magic and you're telling me not to look for ways to remove it because it doesn't _concern_ me?"

"Masooma, calm down." Meiling said tiredly returning her attention to Sakura as she did so, a little pleased to see her charge do as she commanded in front of these strangers. "I'm figuring since you came to me on such short notice, you have some sort of plan to thwart that bastard's scheme of whatever that's going on? Whatever it is, count me in."

"And me." Masooma declared without missing a beat, her anger at the blond all but forgotten as she met Sakura's gaze, "If there is a chance to deal some damage to that bastard's carefully laid out plans, I want in."

"We're breaking Syaoran out." Sakura confided causing Meiling to grin just a little. Maybe she wouldn't have to beat herself up over having failed her cousin and his family just yet.

"I'd propose Miss Masooma sit this one out," Yuui spoke up suddenly, "the seal seems to have drained her of most of her magic. She might only serve as a hindrance in what's to come."

"I'm _way _better off than you are right now." The witch exploded, "Hindrance and drained magic my ass."

"Must say it's a rather nice one at that." The blond piped with a smirk that seemed entirely too sudden on his face making the hunter wonder if perhaps he was bipolar. Despite the severity of the situation, Meiling couldn't help but chuckle as Masooma tried to suppress a blush.

"Tell you what _Mister_ Yuui." She replied casually, "You try and keep up with me till we get Xiao-Lang away and maybe I'd be willing to discuss the appeal of my ass with you over some drinks."

"I'll look forward to it." He grinned playfully before turning serious as he looked at Sakura. "Like Miss Masooma pointed out, Fai's magic is embedded in the very core of this world's security system. I can over ride the seals and codes set in place if someone can get me close enough to the core." Here he turned his gaze to Meiling who nodded in return.

"I can get you in. But we will need to cause enough ruckus to convince Fei to send out his-" she paused, trying to steel herself for what she was about to say, "Fei needs to deploy his secret weapon to deal with the problem instead of sending the usual riffraff."

"Wouldn't the trouble with the security core be enough to warrant that?" Yukito spoke for the first time in quite a while.

"We can't take any chances with this." Sakura cut in before Meiling could respond, "There are no second tries as far as this thing is concerned. The greater the ruckus the better. Besides, a distraction would be helpful for Touya and the others when they open a portal."

"I can round up some of the others," Masooma offered, others being the previous magicians that had been placed under Meiling's care. Unlike what the rest of the hunters thought about her methods, Meiling had only ever truly hurt her charges in front of other hunters and even then just to prove to them that she was not a sympathizer in any way or form. Of course it was sometimes a lot harder to convince the magicians to go along with her act long enough for them to be released from her custody and place in the field. It was all rather complicated but every single wizard or witch that passed under her care was a supporter of her cause and she knew from experience that they would be willing to do what was asked. Heck there were even those who would do all that and then some just to repay their debt to her.

"We can't bring in people we can't trust." Sakura said, biting her lip in a worried manner as Masooma made her way to the exit.

"Don't worry about that." Meiling shook her head with a tiny smile as the witch grabbed a dark cloak from the closet beside the door and vanished into the night pulling the cloth over her head. "Masooma will have them all ready in an hour at most. In the meantime, do you guys have a plan to infiltrate the castle or did Yuki bring you all here because you've got nothing else?"

"It was a very hurriedly put together plan Mei-chan," the bespectacled hunter said with a sheepish grin, "we wouldn't mind a little bit of help working out the kinks."

"What sort of kinks are we talking about here?" she quirked a brow.

"The kind where you tell us how we can get in without being caught?"

"I'm afraid that's going to be impossible," she said with a wry grin, "but that doesn't matter, because we won't be trying to."

**_A/N: The identity of the mysterious witch Touya contacted has finally been revealed and so is the identity of Meiling's charge who just happens to be Masooma… I swear that witch worms her way into pretty much all of my stories no matter how hard I try to keep her out of them. But anyways…that aside, Meiling will be helping them work out the kinks in their hastily put together plan and Touya and the others are getting one step closer to finding Syaoran. _**

**_Please feel free to yell at me for forgetting about the updates in your reviews. But! Don't forget to tell me what you thought about the chapter too ;) ;)_**


	45. Beginning of the End

**_A/N: A big thank you to Bookworm5738 for being the pop-up reminder for this story. Your reminder made me write this update a lot faster ;)_**

**_Since a lot of people have been having trouble recalling what has happened so far I'll give a quick recap of the whole thing first. Anyone who is already up to date can just skip on ahead to the start of the story._**

**_Sakura is an information thief on the run from Fei Wang Reed's special forces known as hunters. She hitches a ride on Kurogane's ship 'Little Dragon' and meets Tomoyo, Fai and Syaoran. Syaoran has a mysterious connection to Sakura's past which is something she has no memory of. Her search for the truth leads to many revelations and shocking discoveries including finding out that her brother and his best-friend are now hunters who joined to find out the truth about Sakura- who had been kidnapped from her home some years prior to the start of this story. Along the way she also discovers the truth about Syaoran being a subject of Fei Wang's experiments just like her to create the perfect warrior. Fai's past is revealed to be also connected to theirs since he had been the one to perform the experiments on Syaoran before breaking him out of the research facility. Sakura meets Kyle while shopping with Tomoyo and he claims to be her cousin thus getting passage on board Little Dragon though he betrays them by revealing himself to be working for FWR all along. He tries to take both Sakura and Syaoran back but Fai manages to save Sakura while Syaoran is kidnapped. Now the gang is on their way to rescue Syaoran gaining some unexpected help along the way. (I know I suck at recaps but at least you all have a general gist of what's going on, right?)_**

**_And now you are all up to date. ^_^ Enjoy the next chapter. _**

Xing took over as the group's leader once Touya led them out of the secret tunnels to the ones that had been constructed by Fei Wang for use underneath the castle. Her magic was already a part of the system's databases, so only a tiny spark in the security checkpoints let them through without a hitch until they reached the very end of their journey. Instructing Touya to conceal the presence of the two civilians through his magic, she accessed the last barrier. Contrary to what the witch had suspected, there were no guards waiting for them inside the chambers. Perhaps the disturbance outside in the city had not been enough to warrant additional security this far down into the network of tunnels. Fei Wang was a bit of an overconfident man when it came to the extent of his own power. The bastard probably did not suspect that someone would have enough skill to get this far down. He did not seem to have learnt a lesson from all the past instances of security breaches, most of them thanks to Sakura- as the hunter now knew.

"Where is he?" Kurogane growled impatiently once they had all stepped inside and the door slid shut behind them. "I don't see the kid anywhere."

"That's because what we received was not a person." Xing answered as she approached a tank of bubbling liquid in the middle of the room. Numerous wires were going in and out of the steel base, magical runes protecting whatever was inside. For a moment or two, he saw nothing but murky green water…but then he saw it. It was small enough to be someone's eyeball, though this thing was… more or less like a three-dimensional yin-yang sphere. That was the best description he could come up with for the thing inside the tank. "I was told it was an important part of a super weapon that we had recently re-acquired, but now that I've personally looked at it…" she trailed off, her frown deepening.

"What is it?" Touya asked, casting a spell for hidden cameras inside the room. But there was nothing at all. Again, it was rather surprising that Fei would not have arranged for proper surveillance of something he considered so important.

"It would seem they've successfully managed to extract his soul." Xing informed him.

"How is that even possible?" Tomoyo questioned.

"Forbidden curses and dark magic." Touya growled. "Is there any way to get it out of there?"

"I can obtain the soul," the witch replied, "but the minute it's out of the range of those runes, this place will go under lockdown and guards will come storming in from everywhere."

"How many can there be?" Kurogane asked, pulling out his sword as his fiancé drew her weapons as well.

"Far too many for the four of us to handle." The witch responded as the ground beneath her feet lit up with a magic circle. "Touya, I hope you had something planned out for your escape from this place after you acquired the soul, because now would be the time to perform that spell. You will only have a three second window to get away."

"You're not planning on staying behind, are you?" the hunter asked in alarm. "You'll be executed for treason!" he added when he realized that the witch had indeed been planning on staying behind.

"I die either way." She replied nonchalantly as the first of the magical runes began to waver under the power of her magic. "My seal won't allow me to leave Clow without express permission from my _master." _She reminded him, spitting out the word 'master' like it left a foul taste in her mouth.

"You shouldn't have come along, then!" Touya argued. "What the hell am I-"

"You should get started on that spell now, Touya." The witch cut in, "Don't worry about me, I'll be fine. Staying behind is the better option when it comes to survival." She added with a small smile that did little to comfort the hunter. Unable to look her in the eye, he averted his gaze to see tendrils of gold slowly ripping away the magical seals surrounding the tank, the soul inside pulsing brighter and brighter.

Knowing that Xing Hou's spell was nearing completion, Touya reluctantly began casting the spell that would create a bridge to Hong Kong. He could only hope the others had managed to create a suitable enough distraction for their arrival by now as the witch's spell began to fade. He quickly located Yukito's magical signature and used it as an anchor for the arrival site in the other world. Space began to warp around them as the last of the floating runes surrounding the tank vanished and Xing summoned the soul from the tank. The witch threw it to the hunter without missing a beat as sirens blared all around them, lights flashing in bright colors. Touya felt the lockdown shields beginning to cage his magic but the shields took three seconds too long to bar the area completely. By the time the restraining magic was in full effect, the hunter and his two civilian companions were already touching down on Hong Kong soil.

-0-

Despite the severity of the situation, a delighted whoop escaped Sakura's lips as she soared through the darkened night sky of Hong Kong with Meiling and Fai accompanying her on hoverboards acquired by the female hunter. Half way across the city, she knew Masooma was busy rallying Meilin's former charges for the uprising. Yukito was waiting for Touya near the arrival site for Mokona since that was the only place that could shield her brother's magic. It had already been decided that Touya would be using Yukito as the anchor for his spell. They had left the hunter with spare hoverboards and an aerial map of Hong Kong, detailed by Meilin for ease of access to the Hong Kong palace for the latecomers. The overcast sky lit up every now and then with random flashes of lightening, heralding the oncoming rain, the rumble of thunder lost in the vibrations of the board underneath her feat as she raced towards the familiar forest green aura.

The hunter was their lead, bypassing various security placements in the airspace, eliminating the need to slow down to manually disable such checks and risk discovery. It all had to be timed perfectly, which was something everyone had been quite dubious about considering one half of their plan depended on Touya getting to Hong Kong in one piece with the soul and on time. If he was even a minute late, everything could be thrown out of balance resulting in immediate capture and certain death for most of the people involved. And yet here they all were, launching this assault based on prayers and secretly hoping that Touya _would _be able to make it.

It was just as they reached the outer boundaries of the palace that the chaos began throughout the rest of the city. Several command towers were brought down in brilliant explosions of crimson and gold, cutting off the link between the tattoos that adorned the flesh of all the magical hunters and the spell that was binding them to Fei Wang's servitude. Masooma had pointed out that taking those towers out of commission would be a very bold move but it would allow pretty much all of the magicians to come over to their side. Magicians did not like having their magic bound, after all. There would be a lot more people joining the fight once that obstacle was overcome, so that had been the focus of their initial attack. Although the magicians were fewer in number, their released magic would help even the odds in the rebels' favor even if the non-magical hunters remained loyal to the Bat Lord.

"Looks like your friends have already begun, Miss Meilin."Fai commented lightly as he hopped off the hoverboard, cheeks flushed from the ride and hair messier than usual but otherwise showing no signs of having just flown to the palace walls. His eyes nearly glowed in the dark as he shot a glance towards Sakura, his grin widening in pleasure as the auburn-haired teen felt his magic suddenly flood his body, growing and growing and growing until it felt like she was looking right into the core of a blazing star.

Taking the racket going on all over Hong Kong as their cue to begin, the blond hurled a powerful blasting curse at the palace wall that created a hole nearly twenty square feet in width in the structure. Alarms and sirens began blaring, drawing the attention of pretty much every single resident towards the intruders. Meilin had already informed them that not all the guards would leave their positions unless the ruckus they caused was huge. Somewhere inside the city several of the power stations blew up, one right after another and Sakura knew their group was gaining attention. Right after liberating the magicians, their next aim had been to cripple all forms of communication, creating as much panic as possible for the hunters' command in as short a span of time as possible.

But it still wasn't quite enough to get the secret weapon outside. Nodding at the blond, Sakura reached inside herself, conjuring a spell and launching it at wall that was automatically barricading itself. She was just the tiniest bit disappointed to realize that the destruction of the command towers had done nothing for the tattoo on her own shoulder. But she decided not to worry about that too much. Yuuko's counter-tattoo was still powerful enough to contain its effects. Besides, their group was pretty much on the way to starting a war in Hong Kong even if Fei Wang had not yet quite realized their intentions yet. She knew she could trust Yuuko and the girls back on Infinity to doing some serious damage to Fei Wang's network on other captive planets, adding to the chaos and confusion as much as possible. It was nearly an open declaration of war but something had to be done to contain the Bat Lord's ambitions.

Her magic caused the defensive repairs and security protocols to freeze long enough for the trio to get back on their hoverboards and zip inside. Drawing out her knives, Sakura charged the blades with her magic, cutting down those who came at her like vegetables. She did not let herself think about the lives she was taking because she knew the guilt would cripple her and that was something none of them could afford at this point. Letting her body perform the actions on autopilot, she concentrated solely on the feel of the wind rushing through her hair, letting the screams and cries and roars and the sirens all merge into the background noise. Her mind subconsciously went back to the time she had been racing with Syaoran through the rocky terrain of the planet ravaged by acid rains. She recalled the way his eyes had lit up with mirth as he had shot past her, grinning like a kid in a candy store as they had raced under, around and over various obstacles, his delighted laughter filling up the air. She found herself longing to hear that laughter one more time and it was then that she knew she would die before letting Fei Wang keep the amber-eyed brunette as a mindless slave.

-0-

Touya tried not to let the worry show on his face as the bridge to Clow closed up behind him, avoiding Yukito's eye as sheathed his sword.

"Where is he?" his bespectacled friend questioned, searching for a fourth member in their group. "Couldn't you find him?"

"We have him," Tomoyo answered for him, probably sensing his apprehension in facing his friend. She_was_ perceptive enough to figure out that the witch they had left behind was someone important to the man waiting for them. "Fei Wang did something to his soul and he's…not quite the way he should be."

"I don't understand." Yukito frowned, searching the hunter's face for answers as he too seemed to sense that something was not quite right with Touya. "Did something happen?" he asked and it took everything the hunter had in him to meet his gaze and lie to his face.

"No, everything is fine. We should get to the Kaijuu before something happens." As though waiting for him to say just that, the ground shook dangerously as the sound of explosions and alarms pierced the air.

"Looks like they started without us." Kurogane grunted, his gaze travelling upwards when the roof of the decrepit place they were in started shaking and raining dust and debris on them all.

"How are we going to get to her?" he urgently asked Yukito, looking around for some sort of transport that could bring him to his little sister before he could say the word 'kaijuu'. Finding no such means of travel, he turned back towards the man.

"Meilin gave me a map to get to the rendezvous point. Grab a board," Yukito said, nodding towards the hoverboards lying near his feet, "and we can be off."

-0-

Sakura had expected Syaoran to emerge the moment the command towers went down, but it would seem that Fei Wang had figured out their intentions. Or maybe he over-estimated his hunter force's capability to subdue the small group of rebels. Or was he holding the brunette as a trump card to use at the last possible moment to turn the tide of what was, up until this point, pretty much an even fight? Whatever the reason, Sakura could feel Meilin's irritation at the Bat Lord keeping her cousin from her even now.

"Miss Meilin," Fai started once they had safely landed near a secret passage that led into the castle, "do you know where the mainframe for Fei Wang's control spell is?"

"Why do you ask?"

"What Miss Masooma said about Fai's magic being used to bind these tattoos," he responded with the slightest narrowing of his eyes, "I'm sure you can understand my reasons for wanting to put an end to it, can you not?"

"I do understand," she responded with a solemn nod as she entered a long sequence of codes into a panel disguised to look like just another stone in a long stretch of the wall, "but we need to find Syaoran. I can't waste the time to take you there."

Seeing the way the blond clenched his jaw at the female hunter's response, Sakura felt a pang of sadness for the fate that had befallen the pilot's brother. She might have pushed for Meilin to help him if she had not wanted to find Syaoran just as much as she did. But they had no idea where he could be, unless…

"Meilin, take us to the mainframe." She said hurriedly, grabbing the raven-head's hand to turn her around to face Sakura even as a passage opened up in the wall behind the hunter.

"We need to find Syaoran." The hunter repeated a little angrily.

"Do you know where he is?" she shot back, noticing with satisfaction that the glare dulled just a little bit on the other woman's face."If all this ruckus has not yet forced Fei Wang to send him out, maybe an attack right at the heart of his operations will force his hand. We can bring Syaoran to us."

Sakura tried not to look too pleased when Fai softly thanked her for helping convince the hunter a short while later as they hurried through the concealed passageways.

_Kaijuu, where are you three?_ She heard Touya's voice in her head so suddenly she nearly jumped a foot into the air. _We're on the way to the palace. Why didn't Meilin give a more specific place to meet up than the palace itself? That place is huge!_

_Nii-san, a little warning would have been nice._ She pouted back at her brother, feeling glad that he had made it back safely, even if they were all racing right into danger. _We're heading to the western side of the palace. You can just follow my signal to get here._ He did not reply again but she could feel his presence in her mind, probably concentrating on flying through the city. It was still reassuring to know he was there for her when she needed him.

_We have his soul with us._ He spoke up after a very long time, just as Sakura was about to follow Meilin into the main part of the castle. From here on out they would all have to fight their way to the mainframe.

_We'll see you at the mainframe, then. _She mentally grinned, ducking under the guard that came rushing at her, whirling out of the way of a second one while Meilin stabbed a third. Fai's magic crackled all over his body, shooting out in random arcs to electrocute anyone who came at the blond, no spells needed, just raw, untamed power bursting from inside of him as though he had far too much to spare.

Although the pilot was expending so much magic, he did not look anywhere near out of breath yet and she wondered not for the first time just how powerful the man was. When they reached an intersection in the passageways, Sakura felt him release another blast that took care of the ones following them and coming after them from the sides. Meilin raced ahead with a roar, sword slicing through a hunter as she dropped to the floor, skidding across the stones with her sword raised. Three hunters fell with agonized screams as their legs were cut right from their bodies.

Not wanting to be outdone when Meilin shot a smirk at her over her shoulder, Sakura summoned her knives back, jumping into the foray as bolts of magical lightening roasted hunters right and left.

-0-

Yukito explained what had happened after they had arrived on the planet, sharing what Meilin had come up with and how they were trying to create as much havoc and confusion as possible while they all flew over the city. Buildings continued to blow up random intervals, screams and sirens creating an angry cacophony that wasn't much different from nails screeching against a board. Trying to fly as high above the destruction below as possible, Touya hurriedly connected with Sakura, feeling just a bit irritated that Meilin had not thought of specifying a location less broad than the palace itself. It irked him that she had just told them to meet inside the palace and not elaborated or pointed out any possible reconnaissance locations.

_Kaijuu, where are you three?_ He nearly yelled at her the moment a connection was established with his sister, _We're on our way to the palace. Why didn't Meilin give a more specific place to meet up than the palace itself? That place is huge!_

_Nii-san, a little warning would have been nice._ He could nearly picture her pouting in irritation, _We're heading to the western side of the palace. You can just follow my signal to get here._

He was just about to tell her that they had successfully regained the brat's soul when a bullet whizzed past his ear.

"Hunters!" he yelled for the benefit of his companions who had yet to notice they were being pursued. Not even a blink of an eye later, they all had their respective weapons drawn, Tomoyo pulling a few rather impressive feats on the hoverboard as she zipped through the air towards a burly man. Kurogane shot towards a second, taking his head off in a move too fast to be seen before heading for the third. Touya and Yukito shot spells at the remainder, quickly taking care of the small party of hunters and continuing on their way to the palace. He knew Sakura would be worried about whether they had actually succeeded in doing what they had gone to Clow for, so he spoke to her again. _We have his soul with us._

_We'll see you at the mainframe then. _She replied, making Touya wonder where that was located. But he decided they could always just beat up a hunter once they were inside to get directions for the place if something hindered him from following his Kaijuu's magic which was lit up like a beacon or that of the blond pilot who at full power was nearly as strong as Yuuko Ichihara herself. It would be impossible to miss that even if he was for some reason unable to find the Kaijuu.

-0-

It nearly took half an hour of fighting and getting past other hunters before the trio finally made it to the mainframe. She grew a little alarmed despite herself when she spotted a strange expression on the blonde's face as they stopped outside a pair of elaborately engraved doors. They opened up to a ballroom once upon a time, she could recall, having gone there as a child with Syaoran in what felt like another life. It really could not be her childhood in this one. That innocent, giggling girl was worlds apart from the cold-blooded killer she was now.

"We're here." Meilin panted, the sweat beading her brow mingling with the blood that slowly leaked from a nearly-clotted cut on her forehead. She must have gotten it in one of Fai's magical explosions. "It's through those doors. Do you have a plan of some sort?" she turned to the two of them, turning her attention solely to Fai when Sakura looked at him. He moved towards the doors in a slow, trance-like state, his eyes glazed and bloodshot. The magic that had been crackling all over his body had retreated so deeply, Sakura wasn't able to detect it unless she concentrated very hard.

"He's still in pain." She heard the blond murmur. "You can hear the screams too, right?" Apart from the far-off sounds of combat, Sakura could hear nothing. Meilin's look told her that neither did she.

"There's no one screaming," she said hesitantly, reaching out to touch the blond on his shoulder, immediately drawing back with a gasp when her head momentarily filled up with the screams of someone in agonizing pain. Eyes wide, she looked at the blond as though he was a being from an entirely different world. She had trouble drawing in her next breath as her gaze travelled to the palm of her own hand before returning to the blonde's back.

"I have to set this right," he mumbled, the magic that had become nearly nonexistent suddenly snapping to the surface in a blast even more powerful than the one that he had released at the palace walls. Sakura couldn't help but shriek in surprise and duck for cover as debris flew towards her and Meilin. By the time she looked up, the blond was stepping over the threshold of the destroyed doors. Inside, a brilliant blue orb nearly the size of a two-man transporter ship hovered a couple of feet off the ground, hundreds of wires connecting it to the consoles lining the entirety of the once-magnificent ballroom. A glow matching the orb surrounded the blonde's entire body as he drew closer to what was powering the mainframe. Tendrils of magic much like the auroras that lit up the skies above Clow reached out for him, pulling him closer and closer, his body rising off the ground as he got pulled inside the ball.

Slowly, his arms spread out as the wires that were connected to the orb suddenly shot towards him, piercing his body nearly enough times to be fatal. She nearly ran towards him when Meilin caught her arm.

"He knows what he's doing." The older woman warned, "Don't try to _help_ him or you might get him killed." Biting her lip, she worriedly looked at the blond as energy began zipping through the wires to and from the control panels, using the blond's body as a conductive medium. Only a heartbeat later, the pilot opened his mouth to let out a scream so loud it nearly shattered her eardrums.

"You should not be here." Said a chilling voice, piercing through the screams despite being so soft.

Sakura froze where she was when she sensed the deadly aura belonging to the speaker, gasping when tendrils of a thick haze of magic began to caress her magic in thin tendrils. Next to her, Meilin turned white as a sheet as she turned around to face the newcomer. Sakura could still hear Fai screaming in the background, but suddenly her own blood was pounding too loudly inside her ears. A small cry escaped her lips when a sharp stab of pain went through her right shoulder, eyes watering as an invisible, white-hot poker pressed to her flesh. Clutching at her shoulder as the tattoo activated once more, she dropped to her knees, distantly picking up on Meilin's voice calling out her attacker's name.

"Syaoran…" she whimpered the same time as the brunette's cousin spoke.

**_A/N: And that's it for now. I'm trying to get the next chapter finished soon but my plunnies are on a strike for now. Drop me lots of reviews to help me bribe the stupid things into coming back to work. :3_**


	46. Be so Heartless

**_A/N: Okay so this update came a lot quicker than the last one, right? _**

**_A reviewer asked me where they stored Syaoran's soul after taking it from the container. I've already explained that method a little bit at the very start of the story. He stored it in a pocket dimension through his magic. Just like Sakura stored her essential stuff in the beginning of the story when she first came onboard _****Little Wolf****_. I hope that clears up the confusion. ^_^;_**

**_Now then, enjoy the new chapter. ;)_**

"The pain won't last." The other Syaoran, the one that never had any emotions, spoke in his typical monotonous manner, completely ignoring his cousin as he focused all his attention on Sakura. She could feel Yuuko's counter-spell activate, but even it wasn't strong enough to contain the effects of the curse mark. Through the haze of pain enveloping her, she saw him narrow his eyes, the skin on her shoulder burning as she dug her nails into the flesh to try and stop it. "Embrace what you are."

"N-no…" she grit out, struggling to get back on her feet, vaguely wondering how she had ended up on her knees in the first place. The curse-seal was spreading, burning poison spreading through her veins, eating away at everything that made her who she was, but she fought, forcing it back, willing Yuuko's spell to work and contain its effects.

"Why do you fight it?" he cocked his head to one side curiously. "Embrace what you are."

"Because I'm not what that bastard wants me to be." She hissed, removing her hand from her burning shoulder with some effort as she glared at the brunette standing before her. "Just like you're not this…this…emotionless _thing_!"

"The mage was foolish to fight this way," He responded in what could have been a conversational manner had his tone not been so flat as he gazed past her towards Fai. Sakura took that chance to get back on her feet."Nothing will become of his sacrifice when you all die by my hands."

"Is that what your master told you?" she narrowed her eyes angrily, taking a step towards him as her mind raced a mile a minute.

"I only state the obvious."

"X-Xiao-lang…" Meiling interrupted, moving closer to her cousin, freezing at the level stare he gave her in response.

"Careful, hunter," he drawled in a way that showed he couldn't care less about the woman addressing him by a name he no longer used. "Emotions make you weak."

"On the contrary," she grit out, trying to stand as tall as she could despite the agony of two opposing magics waging war beneath her skin, "they're what make you stronger."

As if to disprove her point, Syaoran raised two fingers in Meilin's direction, shooting a bolt of lightning towards her that the shocked hunter couldn't quite dodge in time. Sakura watched in horror as the woman flew through the air, head colliding with the wall behind her with a sickening crunch as she slumped to the ground in an unmoving heap.

"Her emotions made her too weak to attack me," he said calmly, "and for that, she paid a heavy price."

"How could you do that to her?" she hissed angrily, unable to tear her gaze away from this emotionless thing before her to see if she was still alive or not. "She was your cousin!"

"She was weak." He responded simply, "I see the same weakness in you. Killing you will be just as easy. The mage has already forfeited his life and-" the wall to their right blew inwards in a magical explosion, cutting off his next words as they both turned to look at the cause of the disturbance. Touya led a party of Yukito, Kurogane and Tomoyo on hover boards, having apparently blasted a path through the palace walls to reach their location through a makeshift shortcut.

"Sakura!" She could hear the relief in his voice as he made a beeline straight for her, dropping the hoverboard right next to her. Grabbing her by the shoulders, he hurriedly checked her over, momentarily not perceiving Syaoran to be a threat. "Are you okay? Why are you by yourself? Where's that pilot? And Meilin, why did she…" he trailed off, apparently having caught sight of the fallen hunter's motionless body. "No… Who could… how did she-"

"You and your allies will meet the same fate." Syaoran said, picking up from where he had been interrupted before. "Emotional attachments make you weak."

"Brat," he growled low in his throat, "did _you_ kill her?"

The brunette's only response was to cock his head to one side as though wordlessly questioning if there were any other candidates around.

"Don't," Sakura had enough sense to grab her brother's arm, keeping him from launching himself at the emotionless teen. "Did you find what you went after?"

She knew her brother was an excellent fighter but anger made him reckless enough to commit mistakes and right at that moment, he was burning with rage. Her best bet would be to draw the brunette as far away from everyone else as possible and try to return his soul to him.

"Here." He shoved a tiny ball in her palm. Glancing down, she noticed it was a vague replica of a yin-yang in spherical form, pulsing warmly against her skin like a tiny heart. She still had no idea how she was supposed to return the soul to the brunette, but she knew she would be trying to save him no matter what. She could still remember the way his apparition had looked at her back in Infinity when he had asked for her help. Knowing it would be best to do what she had to do as far away from her friends as possible, she grabbed the first hoverboard she saw and hopped on.

"Protect Fai," she said, hovering a few feet off the ground as she looked then all, "I'll fix him. Stay safe and good luck." And then she was zooming through the air, as fast as she could away from the others.

The sky was covered in thunderclouds, occasional flashes of lightning the only source of light as she picked up the sounds of fighting all over the city. Sensing the suffocating aura reaching out for her somewhere behind her, she knew her attempt to lead the brunette away from everyone had worked. Now all she had to do was bring him outside of the city where their fight would not be interrupted by wayward hunters. It was a little hard to determine the boundaries when there were no lights to help demarcate the outer walls of the Imperial city. That was probably one of the biggest downsides of Meilin's plan of the rebels blowing up as many power stations and control towers as possible.

Cold wind beat against her exposed skin, making her fingers numb, but Syaoran's soul was warm and comforting inside the palm of her hand as she flew as far away as she could.

-0-

Quickly barking orders at his companions to keep a look out for any one following after them, Touya dropped to his knees next to Meilin. He cast a cursory glance around for the missing blond Sakura had asked him to look after before deciding that Meilin was in more urgent need of assistance as he checked her for a pulse, feeling just the tiniest bit relieved to find one, weak but steadily thrumming beneath his fingers. She was still alive.

"Tomoyo," he hurriedly beckoned the medic over, "She's alive, help her." Waiting only for the woman to give him an affirmative nod before jumping to his feet and hurrying over to where he had left his hoverboard with Kurogane and Yukito. Activating the device, he mounted it and drew his sword.

"I'm going after them," he said, glancing over his shoulder to look at his companions. He froze where he was when his gaze slid past the two and he saw the horrifying sight awaiting him through the ornate double doors that had been thrown open. The shock must have shown on his face because both men were turning around to look at what he was seeing. Touya tried not to feel sick at seeing hundreds of wires going right through the body of the man he only knew as the pilot of _Little Wolf_. Kurogane swore explosively to cover his own shock as Touya tried to come to terms with the fact that the blond was suspended several feet above the ground by the snake-like cables that were connected by their other ends to the mainframe computers. How could he have missed noticing something like that until now?

Maybe it was the fact that even though it seemed like the man was in indescribable amounts of agony, lips parted in a never ending scream, the cocoon of berserk magic that surrounded his body was cutting off not only the noise but also the mainframe itself from sight. A defense mechanism of some sort perhaps? Keeping anyone from noticing the mainframes unless looked directly at. It could explain why he had only just seen him and… was that blood? He sucked in a sharp breath as his eyes followed the slow spiraling path a glob of something crimson coming out of the pilot took inside the sphere before joining a much bigger glob right at the base.

"No, don't." Yukito's sudden warning made him tear his gaze away from the sickening sight. "You'll kill him."

"What the hell do you mean I'll kill him?" Kurogane growled, trying to wrench his arm free of the bespectacled man's hold. He must have been trying to enter the room, "He's being tortured in there! We gotta get him out."

"That's the mainframe," Touya said before he could stop himself, "try to unhook him from it now and you'll kill him faster than you can blink."

"But what the heck is he doing in there?" the ex-captain growled in frustration, rounding on Touya angrily.

"He's trying to destroy Fei Wang's network." He replied, internally debating if he should tell the man the toll if would take on the pilot, deciding against it in the end. Besides, even he had no idea what would become of the blond at the end of this ordeal. Best not to go into it at all. And he still had to go after the Kaijuu. "Just keep an eye on him and Mei. I'm going after Sakura."

Before he could lift off the ground a powerful explosion sent him flying through the air, making the world spin around him as he hit his head on something and fell to the ground. Wiping the warm liquid seeping into his eyes away with the back of his hand, he staggered to his feet, trying to focus his attention on his surroundings. Yukito and Kurogane were still on their feet, surprisingly enough, thanks to the shield his friend had erected around himself and the red-eyed man just in the nick of time. They both appeared to be looking at something behind him but Touya found himself looking around for Tomoyo and Meilin. Were they alright? He knew whatever had caused the explosion required more attention but he had to know if she was okay. He found Tomoyo huddled over Meilin's still-unmoving form, shielding a woman she did not even know with her own body. He spotted a few bleeding cuts on the healer's face and arms but thankfully, Meilin was not harmed any further.

"Hello again, Kurogane," he heard a man speak silkily.

Deciding it was time to start paying attention to the ones that had caused the blast, he turned around, taking in the sight of a pale-skinned hunter smirking at their tiny group as he lazily cleaned a pair of round-framed spectacles before snapping them back to the bridge of his nose. His hair was pulled back in a low ponytail and he had the look of a man who was quite pleased with everything that was happening around him. Behind him stood a small army of hunters- had to be at least fifty men- all armed to the teeth and looking more than ready to spill some blood. Must have been the Bat Lord's hand-picked loyalists.

"I see you brought a couple of traitors along with you," the man continued in an amused tone, seemingly dismissing their group as nothing more than a minor annoyance. "and the thorn in my master's side as well." He nodded his head towards the place where Touya now knew Fai to be, still screaming that never-ending, soundless scream. "It's too bad I won't be getting the pleasure of killing him off, but I guess I can still settle for your little rag-tag group of losers instead."

"Rondart," hissed the captain, immediately alerting Touya to the hunter's identity. Sakura had told him about this imposter back in Infinity. "I'll make sure to draw out your death for as long as possible for what you did to the kid."

"Ah," the man's smirk widened, "but it was that man on the other side of those doors who did all that to your adoptive brother. Tell me, by the way," he continued conversationally, not at all acting like they were a threat, "how did you put up with that retard for so long anyways? I must say, the broken mind does make it a lot easier to control our weapon."

Touya's grip tightened around the hilt of his sword as he glowered at the man. The hunter's words seemed to have brought Kurogane's anger to a whole other level, though. The man let out an animalistic snarl as he shot towards the hunter with his weapon slicing through the air, aiming to cut the latter in half right where he stood.

Touya only had a moment to swear internally before following after the red-eyed man, signaling Yukito to back them up. He knew that letting Kurogane go off to fight that many hunters on his own would not be much different from allowing him to commit suicide. Hell, _he _was running right to his own death. The sound of metal screaming against metal filled up the air as he gave his magic free reign to defend him and Kurogane from attacks they could not block as the first wave of hunters swarmed the narrow corridor to spill their blood.

-0-

"Why do you still fight?" she heard him ask with the smallest inflection of curiosity as she turned around to face him, far away from the city. The skies had opened up and rain was pouring down hard, making it difficult for her to see much at all. She could still, just barely, make out his vague humanoid form against the darkness a few feet from her.

"Because I refuse to let something control me." She responded, tightening her fingers around the brunette's soul, trying to wrack her brain for an idea on how she was supposed to return it to him. As though protesting to her rough treatment, the ball began to grow hotter and hotter till it was nearly scalding against her skin.

"Is living in agony any better?" Syaoran questioned, sounding quite a lot like his old self. However, the constant presence of his suffocating magic crackling in the air reminded her that despite the similarities, this was not the boy she had come to know and care for.

The burning sensation in her hand caused her to hiss out in pain as she focused all her will power into not dropping the ball into the darkness below her. She could feel the tiniest amounts of Fai's magic mixed with what had to be his dead twin's magic weaving some sort of spell around the soul but it was hard to figure out its intended purpose until the magic caused the tiny orb to collapse inwards inside her palm. Her eyes widened in panic as she hurriedly brought her hand to her face, realizing it was now empty of the soul she had been entrusted with.

"Such a fool." Syaoran chuckled, giving the first proper hint of human emotion as he looked at her, her eyes having adjusted to the darkness well enough to see him. "His efforts and sacrifice will be in vain."

The warmth of his soul suddenly settled right against her own heart, calming her panicked mind enough to properly pay attention to Syaoran and her surroundings. A flash of lightning lit up the night, bathing everything in an electric glow for a fraction of a second as rain continued to pelt their bodies. Thunder rumbled overhead and she noticed Syaoran raising his sword, attracting the next bolt of lightning to his weapon. The blade absorbed the fury of nature, letting it crackle all around it in a terrifying sight.

She only had a split second to swerve out of the way of the magically-enhanced attack that came tearing through the air towards her. Gritting her teeth at the unavoidable fight, Sakura called on her magic to enhance her senses. They were both deadly assassins, trained to be perfect human weapons. One was without a soul and the other had more blood on her hands than entire armies combined. She knew, even before their fight properly began, that unless a miracle were to happen, only one of them would be walking away from this alive. She only hoped she would be able to find that miracle before she had to take the life of this boy who had been a very important part of her life from the very beginning.

**_A/N: The stages have all been set and the final showdowns are about to begin. Keep an eye out for the update and don't forget drop me a review. Remember, your reviews feed the plunnies and help them grow strong and mutate quicker into these monstrosities I end up writing all the time… ^_^;_**


	47. Reaching Out to You

**_A/N: so here's the long overdue beta-read version of the chapter. Enjoy ;)_**

Their fight was a deadly dance of magic and raging elements and singing blades that lit up sky in brilliant sparks. The cold bit at her exposed skin, raindrops pelting her face and arms and legs like hundreds and hundreds of tiny pebbles being thrown at her from the heavens above. Yet the adrenalin rushing through her veins kept her from feeling the pain she normally would have felt, the shallow bleeding cut on her left calf felt nothing more than an irritating graze. A bolt of lightning shot towards her, forcing Sakura to spin out of the way. Charging the blades of her throwing knives with her magic to erect a protective bubble around her. Feeling a little bit exhausted, she panted, scouring the skies for her opponent as she tried to catch her breath. They had to have been at this for nearly two hours now. Had she been fighting an ordinary opponent or even a hoard of hunters, she would have finished the fight long ago. But seeing as both she and Syaoran were evenly matched, the fight was drawing out without either of them managing to keep the upper hand for more than a minute.

Her mind raced a thousand thoughts a seconds but she couldn't figure out a quick way to end the fight. For a fraction of a second, she spied a spark of blue magic- Fai's magic!- near the grounds before it was gone. Keeping one eye out for Syaoran, she took a closer look towards the place where she thought she had seen the magic originate from. Thunder rattled the clouds before an arc of natural lightning shot through the sky somewhere above her, lighting up everything around her long enough to see a series of hills in the distance. Right at the foot of those mountains was a network high rising metallic towers, interconnected by walkways and sagging wires. A power-grid station. As the light cast from the lightning faded away, she saw one of the central towers beginning to charge up. Brilliant blue pulses arced up the metal's length, spreading outwards along the wires that connected the grid work. Her breath caught in her throat as she realized the magic belonged to Fai.

Encased in the bubble of protective magic, Sakura grew a little careless as she turned all her attention towards what she now knew was one of Hong Kong's biggest power grids. Unlike the grids installed in the sectors of Capital City however, this one did not power the city. Oh no, this was the power grid that was controlled by the mainframe she had seen the blond pilot attach himself to back in the palace. But how was the man amplifying his magic to such a great extent? Unless…. Hadn't Masooma said that the magic in her seal felt similar to Fai's? So then… could this be the pilot's twin's magic? Before she could ponder any more on that however, a blast of magical lightning was shattering her shield, drawing her attention back to the fight even as she tried to incorporate this new information into a workable plan to subdue Syaoran.

"Why do you fight for him?" she yelled over the sound of the thundering rain, trying to buy some time for herself, "have you forgotten what he did to you? To your family?" seeing him stiffen she decided to push one final time, "Your mother?"

"My… mother?" he repeated hesitantly, so reminiscent of the Syaoran she had known aboard Little Wolf that Sakura had to wonder for a moment if the boy had somehow managed to regain his old personality even without the soul.

"Yes," she nodded, hoping against hope that this might just be the miracle she needed, "remember her? She gave up her life for you."

His answering attack was enough to shatter her hopes though. He was still a puppet, even if old Syaoran had somehow managed to take control of the boy's body. She had to do something fast. Making a split second decision, the auburn haired girl shot through the sky like a bullet, heading straight for the power grid. Maybe if she got close enough, she could ask Fai for help. After all, the blond knew how to handle the boy quite well, heck, he was the reason Syaoran was like this in the first place. He must know of something that could be done.

-0-

Touya growled in annoyance as he was forced to dodge out of the way of another attack, sucking in a sharp breath when his opponent still managed to slice a through the top layer of the skin on his torso. As blood began to well up from the wound to paint his dark uniform an even darker shade of crimson, the ex-prince decided he had to find a way to get this fight finished fast. This was all getting a little too close for comfort.

It was by some fluke that the corridor they all fought in was too narrow to allow more than three hunters to attack at any given time, forcing the rest of the tiny army to wait for an opening near the gaping hole in the wall. A little ways away, Kurogane was busy exchanging blows with the bastard Touya personally wanted to cut open. Unfortunately for the prince however, Kyle Rondart was currently parrying the red-eyed man's attacks, wearing a smug grin as he did so, throwing taunts at the captain every chance he got. Touya had known the man to be a bit of a hothead from what little time he had spent in the other's company aboard Little Wolf and in Infinity but surprisingly enough, the red-eyed man was able to not only maintain his calm but even succeed in pushing the hunter back a few paces, leading the attacker away from where Meilin lay with Tomoyo.

Touya did not have much time to observe those two fight but he could gather that the red-eyed man was on nearly equal footing with Kyle despite not having any inherent magic to aid him. A little ways behind them, Yukito was busy doing all he could to protect their backs while at the same time trying to provide cover for the incapacitated girls. Together, Yukito and Touya managed to form a good enough barrier though for every hunter the ex-prince managed to fell, a new one popped up to take his place. Knowing the hunter only had to wait long enough for their small party to tire out before launching their final strike, Touya knew he had to find some way to get rid of the hunters in waiting as soon as possible.

A risky plan began forming in his mind as his gaze darted towards the hole in the wall where all the other hunters were waiting. Going completely on the offensive, Touya began to push his opponent back to his comrades. All the prince had to do was get close enough to the hole. If it worked, he'd be able to take out a considerable chunk of the bastards, evening out the odds a little bit more in their favor.

Keeping up an unrelenting flurry of sword attacks, Touya managed to snag a second blade from one of his felled opponents, spinning in mid air to bring both blades around him as he dropped low, feinting at the last possible moment. Knowing the other hunter would be on the defensive long enough for him to cast the spell, the ex-prince pushed off of the ground, charging to the right side of the wall even as he raced towards the hunter that had retreated in the wake of his attacks. Weaving n invisible spell as he went, Touya bounced off the wall, quite close to the hole in the wall, grinning to himself when he felt the spell embed itself in the ancient stone. Letting the other hunter go on the offensive, Touya began his unseen retreat. Two new hunters dared to venture out of their hidey hole, coming to the aid of their comrade as the ex-prince went.

Touya's gaze flickered to Kurogane and Kyle as he passed them by, grateful for Yukito watching his back when he failed to see an attack heading his way in his moment of distraction. Yelling out his gratitude to his friend, Touya backed up to what he deemed to be a safe distance from the enchanted wall. It was at times like these he was glad that Fei Wang's most elite were all non-magic hunters for a mage would have managed to discover his plan long before the prince would have had a chance to execute it. As it was however, all of their opponents save Kyle- who was locked in a fight with Kurogane- were non-magical as was evident from their long range fighting techniques.

After all, wizards and witches with magic not controlled by Fei Wang's seals could prove to be rather deadly in a close-quarters fight which was why non-magical hunters were always instructed to incapacitate their opponents as swiftly as possible from a safe distance away. Unfortunately for this lot, that safe distance would prove to be their downfall as the spell Touya had woven grew in strength, gathering the stray magic right from the air to become one powerful ticking time bomb.

The magic only became visible a three seconds before Touya's impromptu time bomb exploded in a near blinding explosion, wiping out pretty much all the hunters except for the three that were in the hallway fighting against Touya. And then there was Kyle against Kurogane.

Grinning at the suddenly more manageable number of opponents, Touya was surprised to see Tomoyo join the fight.

"Meilin is stable but there isn't anything I can do for her now." She yelled, taking one of the hunter's away from Touya, leaving the raven-head only to have to worry about dealing with the two left. "Better help you then watch from the sidelines."

-0-

Flipping around on her board, much in the same way as Syaoran had done on the planet devastated by acid rain, Sakura launched the reverse thrusters. Making sure she was heading in the right direction, Sakura searched around for the brunette. Spotting him just a little ways behind her, she flung one of her precious knives at the boy, watching only long enough to see the magic laced through the blade create hundreds and hundreds of needles made out of pure concentrated magic, shooting towards her pursuer. She summoned the knife back to her hand, turning back in the right direction and pushed on to full throttle, shooting for the ground like a speeding bullet.

She knew full well that her attack would only be able to buy her a few precious seconds, she wasted no time in trying to establish a psychic contact with the blond pilot as soon as she was within the range of his magic. Since she had been so intent on reaching the main tower as quickly as possible, the hoverboard proved impossible to slow down as she neared her destination. Making a split second decision, the auburn haired girl flipped off the board in mid-air, her rubber boots skidding over the metal catwalk as she tried and failed to regain her balance, tumbling off of the edge as soon as Fai accepted her contact. She was not prepared for the sudden onslaught of pain, like hundred and thousands of needles piercing through every inch of her body, nearly making her miss the metal rung of a ladder that rose from the ground to connect to the catwalk. The throwing knives slipped from her grasp as she struggled to hold on to the slippery surface, struggling to pull her body back up on the platform, trying not to cry out from the pain she felt.

She knew what she was feeling as merely an echo from the pilot's end of the connection but… it was still enough to drive her near insane. Gritting her teeth as she literally held on for her life above a four hundred feet drop, she mentally sent a quick message to the mage.

_F-Fai… I need your help. _

_I know Sakura._ Came the reply in a barely audible whisper. _I have been re-routing all available magic to the control towers. Can you get Syaoran there?_

_He will be here soon but… I-I… I'm not going to kill him._ She replied, feeling her fingers slip just a little more,_ Why are you gathering all that magic?_

_To bind his soul to his body, _The magician replied in that whisper, sending a chill down Sakura's spine as she tried to pull her body up, unable to find a stable footing on the lower rungs of the ladder. It must have broken sometime in the past. The ladder did not exist beneath her feet and no matter how hard she tried, she could not pull herself up. _I know the spell that can be cast but you must have him range. And… you have to let me use your body to cast it._

She nearly let go at those words. Fai expected her to surrender herself completely to him for however long it took him to cast the magic? Before she could ponder anymore on that however, she was distracted once again by a gaze boring holes into her head somewhere up above her. Looking up, she saw Syaoran standing at the edge of the catwalk, impassively watching her as her grip slipped just a little more on the metal ladder.

_Don't break the contact,_ Fai warned her just as her fingers slid off the ladder, plunging her to the ground, an unintentional scream escaping her lips as she fell. There was no saving her now. All of her life seemed to flash before her eyes as the wind attacked her falling body, rain pelting her from up above as the ground grew closer and closer until arcs of lightning blue magic shot at her from the tower and wires and even the _air_ itself, latching on to her body to slow her descent, a formless spell pulling her to a complete halt before the wind began to lift her, depositing her on top of the metal catwalk, ten feet away from Syaoran. The brunette merely watched it all with an impassive look on his face as Sakura struggled to regain her breath. She had nearly died and… Fai had saved her.

_I need time to get the spell set up. Keep Syaoran distracted._

She knew then that no matter what happened, before the night was over, Sakura would be letting the blond use her body to perform the magic to bind the brunette's soul. She owed it to both of them. Wordlessly, the princess summoned back her daggers, assuming a stance despite her shaky legs as she beckoned Syaoran to attack her. As she ducked under the first attacked and flipped out of the way of a fireball, she wondered if they really needed all that magic to bind one soul, as goosebumps raised the hair on her arms from the raw amount of blue-tinted magic charging up in the towers. If that were the case, why in the world had Fei Wang gone through all that trouble of transporting Syaoran's soul halfway across the galaxy? It could have remained on the same planet without ever causing any problems for the Batlord.

Unless… that had never been the intention behind moving it in the first place. What if… what if he had only done that so that his people could study the unbound soul? Shaking her head to get rid of such unimportant thoughts, Sakura tightened her grip on the hilts of her throwing knives. She could feel the metal resonate with the magic in the air, humming inside the slightly sweaty palms of her hands as she adjusted her grip on the hilts, bringing them up to block a sword swipe. Breathing hard, she locked gazes with Syaoran, searching for any sign of the boy who he used to be despite knowing otherwise.

"Why do you oppose him?" his sudden question took her off guard though she managed not to let him push her back with a second strike.

"Because he is a monster." Sakura spat back, dropping low to kick as his legs. The brunette jumped out of the way as she followed the attack with another barrage of needles made out of concentrated magic. "He destroyed our lives. He took away our families. He laid waste to everything I ever cared about!"

"What makes him so different?" the heartless teen asked in that innocent way of his, erecting a shield to block out her spell, "we destroy lives too." he added from behind the barrier.

"We never had a choice!" she yelled, physically trying to hack away at his protective spell with her knives, "he turned us into these monsters."

"Why does it matter?" Syaoran cocked his head to one side, impassively watching her try to break through his barrier. Sakura could feel Fai's magic weaving through the air all around her but judging from Syaoran's lack of reaction to it, the boy must not be able to sense it. It must have something to do with the connection she had established with the blond earlier.

"This is not who we are." she replied, charging the blades of her knives with magic to help eat away the cocoon surrounding Syaoran a little faster.

"Will denying what we have done change anything?"

_Sakura, I'm ready. _Fai whispered in the back of her mind.

"It won't," she admitted, mentally prompting the pilot to go ahead, "but we can always try to change what we do next." A series of bolts struck the auburn-haired girl where she stood the moment she had managed to break down Syaoran's shield, fire racing through her veins as foreign magic invaded her body. She could hear someone screaming somewhere far away, not realizing that she herself was resonating those horrible screams atop the metal catwalk as Fai's spell ripped the Syaoran's heart from her body. The magic charged inside her, pouring inwards and inwards and inwards and inwards till she felt like she was drowning and sinking and losing herself to the enormity of the power that was suddenly inside her, screaming all the while. She was vaguely aware of throwing her knives at something, the metal charged with so much magic it was white hot and twisted out of shape but she won't find out until much later.

Forest green suddenly warred against the lightning blue, the blue nearly overwhelming the green but the green refusing the fade to nothingness as it fought back, pushing and pushing and pushing and she was only aware of the screaming and the burning and power of the spell weaving inside her blood, making it boil, turning to fire as the green began to shrink.

_I'm so sorry about this, Sakura…_ she heard a distant whisper but she no longer knew who it belonged to. The spell began to near its completion as the thread of magic connecting the blue to the green began to waver and sway. She did not know why or how but she knew that letting that thread break would be the worst possible thing imaginable so she dug around inside of her, finding a reservoir of pink, tiny in comparison to the shades of blue which were no longer just lightning but ice too. Twins… magical cores of twins… pushing it away, she pulled out the pink and added it to the blues, watching as the wavering thread stabilized, pushing at the green, forcing the taint back, pushing and pushing and pushing as the fire moved from her to the thread and then into the forest green, the taint trying to engulf the fire but the blues and the pink protected the fire as it cleansed out the green, slowly becoming a part of it as the pink and the blues began to retreat and then the blue retreated further and further away, leaving behind only the pink.

Rain drizzled on her frozen skin as Sakura sluggishly struggled to sit up. Her body was too numb to feel anything but as the clouds began to part in the sky, she noticed another fallen figure on the platform. Brain speeding up the process of catching up on things, Sakura clambered over to the fallen brunette, turning him over to his back, heart catching in her throat when she realized that Syaoran wasn't breathing. Tears stung at her eyes as she shook the boy, managing a hoarse croak of his name. Still nothing.

Gritting her teeth against the pain in her heart at the thought of him being dead, she pressed her lips against his, pleading for the boy to wake up. She had done all this to save him. He couldn't have just given up now when the end was so near. They had to both survive it. They had to. Shaking him for a second time and not getting a different result, she struggled to keep her tears at bay as she hugged his body to hers.

"You can't die now…" she wept miserably, pulling away long enough to look at his closed eyes and slightly parted lips before pressing another kiss to them. "Wake up Syaoran. Please wake up." She pleaded. "You can't give up now. We worked so hard to get your soul back. Don't you want to thank Kurogane and Tomoyo for that?"

The body in her arms trembled, making the princess freeze when the boy gasped, thrashing senselessly for a fraction of a moment before his eyes snapped open.

"S-Sakura?"

**_ A/N: so I noticed that not a lot of people reviewed this chapter. are you guys annoyed by the grammatical errors or the long delays between the updates or do only a few people read this story anymore?_**


	48. Break In

**_A/N: Only one more chapter to go people. A big thank you to everyone who's stuck by me for this long. You guys are awesome. :) To treat you all for your awesomeness, I have decided to include a bit of SxS fluff in this chapter for you guys. Enjoy~_**

"Syaoran…" She whispered, shaking in fright at the thought of his death. His amber eyes blinked up at her questioningly for a moment before a smile transformed his face.

"You came." He said happily, reaching up to touch her face with cold fingers as the rain slowly began to let up.

"Of course I did," she gave him a weak smile in return, wishing that she could stop crying now. "You didn't exactly give me much of a choice." She added, helping him sit up.

"Don't cry," Syaoran whispered, gently wiping away the tears from her cheeks as he brought his other hand up to hold her face. When new tears took the place of the ones he had wiped away, she shrugged out of his hold, averting her gaze as she angrily tried to wipe them away.

"S-Sorry…" she mumbled, "I don't know why I'm crying." She felt the brunette grab her wrist in a firm hold before forcing it away, once again cupping her cheeks and wiping away the tears with his thumbs. Biting the inside of her cheek for a moment, she tried another attempt at a smile, once again not having much success. "It's just that…you could have died…and I-" her next words were cut off when Syaoran closed the gap between them, pressing his lips against hers. Her hands reached out to grab hold of his shirt, drawing him closer as he deepened the kiss.

It might have just been a few seconds later or maybe lifetimes had passed by the time Syaoran drew away. Sakura opened her eyes to find him with the biggest grin she had ever seen on his face.

"Thank you." He said.

"Y-You're…" Clearing her throat, she finally managed a wry grin, "don't mention it."

A pink glow started appearing on the horizon as the storm clouds began to clear away, heralding the dawn of a new day.

"Mother loved to watch the sunrise with me." Syaoran said a little wistfully as he gazed out into the distance. Leaning against his shoulder, she followed his gaze, watching as the orb of fire began to rise higher and higher. She could have stayed that way with him forever had it not been for Syaoran tensing up suddenly, reaching out for his sword as he jumped to his feet. Fearing a return of his soulless self, Sakura summoned her own weapons to her hand as she glanced at him warily.

"He is angry." The brunette said, a faraway look in his eyes as Sakura's tattoo began to throb painfully again. "And afraid."

"Who?"

"Fei Wang," came the reply as his gaze sharpened, a look of urgency adorning his features, "he will escape."

"Not if we can help it," she replied, tightening her grip on the knives as she felt around for the magical thread that had connected her to Fai. There was no way they'd be able to make it back to the palace in time without their hoverboards. But the blond magician was currently connected to a near-limitless amount of magic. Surely he could transport them to wherever the bastard was in time.

_Fai? _She called out into the darkness, feeling the magic hum in response to her words. She wondered why the blond wasn't answering when she 'felt' a nod from the magic to continue. Could he not speak to her? Maybe their connection wasn't so strong anymore since she had dropped it at the end of the soul-returning spell. _Fei Wang is trying to escape. I don't think we'll be able to get to wherever he is in time. Can you transport me and Syaoran?_

The magician's response was in the form of a warm stream of lightning-blue magic suddenly whirling around them, forming words in a runic script she was sure she had not seen the mage use before. When neither her nor Syaoran's magic leapt to their defense, she decided it must be a spell to transport them to their next destination. The runes spun around them both in a circular pattern, going faster and faster until there was nothing but the sharp blur of the runes going around them. The magic closed up around them, enveloping them in a cocoon that appeared to be a mix of the lightning-blue magic that belonged to the pilot and the icy blue of his twin. It tugged at the back of her mind that she was missing something important, but then they had already appeared in the Hong Kong Palace throne room and her attention was drawn to the giant magical circle glowing on the floor, in the middle of which stood the monocle-wearing, cleft-chinned Fei Wang Reed. The man gave a howl of rage when he saw them appear, an offensive spell immediately shooting their way, forcing Sakura and Syaoran to dive out of the way in opposite directions.

"You may have reclaimed my puppet, but you are very much mistaken if you think the two of you are enough to take me down." He said in a gravelly voice.

"That's why you're running away like the coward that you are, isn't it?" she shot back as she got to her feet. Across from her Syaoran seemed to be regaining his bearings as well.

"If you are itching for a confrontation that badly, Princess," Fei Wang drawled out, "then I won't deny you your last wish." And with those words, he summoned a sword bigger than any she had ever seen. From the way the man held it, it was obvious he knew exactly how to use it to make each blow a fatal one. Nodding wordlessly at Syaoran, Sakura charged, magic trailing in her wake as she concentrated her power into the blades of her knives. On the other side of the room, Syaoran was doing the same. Their final confrontation had begun.

-0-

Touya could feel his muscles scream in protest even as he charged at the hunter. Having masqueraded around as a magic-less low-level grunt in the hunter ranks, Touya had never really had a reason to use his magic in combat for any period of time, though he and Yukito made sure to train in the secret tunnels underneath Clow Castle that only the two of them knew about to keep themselves from getting rusty. But even with all that practice, suddenly being up against an opponent that actually knew their way around mages was putting Touya's limits to the test. Still, he couldn't help but feel pride at the fact that he had managed to injure his opponent much more than he had been hurt. But he was still irritated by how long it was taking him to get rid of the persistent bastard. Maybe once he had knocked him down, Touya could actually spare a few minutes to catch his breath?

Yukito and Tomoyo were both holding their own and Kurogane, surprisingly enough, was still going strong against Kyle. The cerellium armor and weapons used by the hunters made it a little difficult for Touya to actually land a strong enough spell to take his opponent out, but it was still pleasing to know he was wearing the hunter down. Keeping his eye out for the smallest misstep on part of the man he fought, Touya prepped his magic to take advantage of the split second whenever the chance presented itself. He knew the other man was wary of him, if the distance he kept between them was any indication but even so, Touya was slowly but surely gaining the upper hand. Metal flashed and clanged in a discordant symphony as he let off a low-powered spell as a distraction every now and then. Blocking and parrying the blows, giving back as good as he got; Touya began pushing the hunter back, sparing a glance towards his companions to check on their conditions. Satisfied to see Yukito still keeping the upper hand against his opponent and Tomoyo somehow managing to stay on equal footing with hers, Touya turned his attention back to the hunter he faced.

Deciding that the best way to catch the man off guard would be through an illusionary spell, Touya slowly began to weave one around the area where they fought. Shrinking it to affect only the man he fought, Touya rigged it to go off when he was close enough to take out the hunter in a single blow, giving him the split-second advantage he needed to kill the man. Unaware of Touya's trap, the hunter raced at him, his double broadswords aiming to decapitate the prince. Touya made no attempts to dodge the incoming attack, bringing up his sword in an offensive stance and waiting for the last possible moment to set off his trap spell. The hunter was close enough for Touya to see the expression on his face morph from determined to shocked as his retinas were blasted with simultaneous flashes light, intense as several thousand-watt flash bulbs, going off in his face. The man stumbled with a startled yelp as Touya finally lowered his stance to pass under the broadswords, keeping his sword steadily in position long enough for the hunter to run himself through with it. A breathless gurgle formed and died in his opponent's throat as Touya pushed his shoulder into the hunter's sternum, straightening up enough to throw the man over him. If the sword attack had not been enough to end the man's life, the crunch of his neck breaking was enough reason for the prince to finally let out a relieved breath.

The adrenaline still racing through his blood ensured he could not feel the true pain of the injuries he had sustained as he looked around for his childhood friend. With a well-timed tripping spell aimed at Yukito's hunter, Touya helped his best friend get rid of his opponent, the spectacled man in turn helping Tomoyo take out the hunter she fought. Panting and struggling to regain their breath, the trio finally turned their attention to the only pair still left fighting.

"It's a pity to see you fighting so hard," Kyle seemed to be taunting the red-eyed man, a slight hint of desperation in his tone that Touya wasn't sure the captain would be able to pick up on while still dodging those deadly curses left, right and center. "Knowing you've failed to protect your precious little family and trying so hard despite that. I feel like I should put you out of your misery." Lucky for the captain, Touya was glad to notice, Kurogane had failed to rise to the bait, an angry expression flashing across Kyle's face as the timed trap-not quite unlike the one Touya himself had used mere minutes ago- went off without Kurogane being in its range. The anger was quickly hidden behind a mask as the bastard tried a different approach to get a rise out of Kurogane. A new spell wove itself into the air around the duo as Kyle began to speak again. "He begged for me to kill him, you know. Right as we began the procedure to tear his soul from his body."

Touya saw Kurogane's mistake only a heartbeat after he made it, but that was enough for Kyle to land a near-crippling blow on the captain. A hex cut into the captain's right bicep, taking that arm out of commission altogether. Tomoyo made a move to help him but Touya stopped her before she could step in. He could see Kyle weaving a new spell and her entering the fray would do nothing more than get her killed.

"Wait, don't go in just yet." Surprisingly enough, the medic did not question his orders, even if she did look like she had half a mind to slug him across the face and rush in anyways.

"The pathetic brat bawled like a little baby," Kyle taunted Kurogane, not giving up on his unrelenting attacks as Touya tried to make sense of the spell the hunter was casting. It was familiar in the way the magic was acting, but since it was still a work in progress Touya wasn't quite sure what the final purpose of the spell might be. At least, not until… "The brat begged for his family, his _real_ family, to save his worthless life." Touya inhaled sharply, figuring out the spell just moments before the bastard could finish casting it. Yukito's gasp of shock let him know his friend had figured it out as well, but even as the man hurriedly began to summon a protective barrier around the four of them, Touya was already moving into position towards the exact spot he knew Kyle would land in when the spell finished. Because the man was so focused on distracting Kurogane while still completing the necessary rune work to get the bomb-slash-instant transportation spell to activate, he did not notice Touya's movements.

It was with vicious satisfaction that the former prince sank the blade of his sword into the bastard's back, returning Kurogane's grin when the captain stabbed the bastard in the heart. Protected behind Yukito's wards, Touya marveled as the air around them suddenly went up in a literal ball of flame. Had his friend not realized what the man was planning, they'd all have been dead right alongside the now-skewered hunter.

-0-

Very early into the fight, Sakura became aware of the numerous protective wards around the bastard that protected him from physical assaults. Even all her attacks supercharged with magic were sliding off of the man like water off a fish. It was damn near impossible to even get close to him, let alone actually land a blow. All her offensive spells had the same result. From the familiar, icy blue aura that was woven into the spells surrounding the bastard, she could tell it was mainly Fai's magic embedded in those wards. But unlike the magic that had come to her aid in the powergrid station, this magic did not leap out to help her. Beside her, Syaoran did not seem to be having much success either as his sword strikes met the invisible spell barrier.

Fei Wang merely stood where he was with his giant sword, calmly observing their attacks with a nearly-disappointed look on his face. After five minutes of relentless attacks, Sakura backed up a little, panting for breath as she scanned the wards for a weakness, Syaoran doing the same.

"I thought I had had you trained a lot better than this," Fei spoke in that deep, gravelly tone of his as he shifted his stance just a hint, making Sakura eye him warily even though he did nothing further. "It would seem the Valerian twins were not quite the geniuses they were made out to be. But then again," he continued almost lazily, "I should not fault you two for your weaknesses. For all the power you wield, you do not have the brains to put it to the correct use." The skin on Sakura's shoulder began to prickle, heat rising from the tattoo that was burned into her skin by the very bastard that now stood before her. "Maybe I should take that burden off of your shoulders." The cursed mark continued growing hotter and hotter until she fell to her knees with a sharp gasp, blood flooding inside her mouth when she bit her lip to keep from crying out.

Yuuko's counter spell began to activate, but the sheer amount of magic pulsing through the deeper tattoo caused the containment spell to shatter, finally making the green-eyed girl scream in pain as fire licked her insides. She was only distantly aware of Yuui's magic brushing the edges of her mind, offering a slight amount of comfort. But in the face of the agony she felt, it was like a drop of water in a volcano. She could feel Fei establishing contact and trying to take over her mind as she struggled not to surrender. Unaware of what was happening on the physical plane of existence, Sakura put all her energy into pushing back against the magical influence in her mind, taking comfort in the fact that if she was unable to move, hopefully so too was the bastard responsible. It wasn't until the icy-blue of Fai's magic was added to the mix that the princess felt she was beginning to lose herself, her conscious being backed into a tiny corner of her mind. Just as she had nearly lost all hope, however, the magic belonging to Yuui that had been skirting at the edges of her mind suddenly burst forth.

Sakura was just about to freak out over the immense amount of magic clashing inside her head when she heard Fei Wang scream in rage. Her fear of being burnt from the inside out from the excessive magic were somewhat allayed as she was suddenly slammed back into the physical plane of existence. The Bat Lord looked across the hall towards them with something akin to fear in his gaze for the very first time as she felt the previously impenetrable barrier surrounding him shudder and give way just a little. The burning in her cursed mark had all but faded away, making Sakura wonder if- she dropped low to the ground, rolling out of the way of Fei Wang's sword as the man finally moved in to attack. Despite his large size, he was quite an agile opponent, making Sakura release her experimental line of thought in favor of staying alive.

The Bat Lord faltered for a moment, giving Sakura an opening to slash him across the face, internally cursing when he somehow managed to dodge out of the way before she could claim an eye. However, the pain that flared up in the bastard's eyes told her that though her physical strike hadn't done much damage, he was still fighting off something that stemmed from inside him. Looking across the room, she could see Syaoran glowering at the man with an intense look on concentration on his face. Whatever wordless magic the brunette had done to give Sakura her chance had drawn the Bat Lord's attention to him, for the man was racing towards him with an enraged snarl. Syaoran gracefully brought up his gold-hilted sword to block the incoming attack, smoothly transitioning from spell attacks to parrying physical blows as Sakura tried to catch her breath for just a moment.

Projecting all of her hatred into a single, wordless spell, Sakura experimentally reached through the mental link she had felt open up between herself and the Bat Lord through the curse mark. He must have had those tattoos specifically designed to be linked directly to his mind, because the minute Sakura had reached across, the man gave a pained cry, faltering for the second time, giving Syaoran the opportunity to slice through his biceps. Syaoran must have had done the same thing before her because Fei Wang shifted his attention back towards her with a growl.

Sakura danced through Fei's attacks, getting as close as she dared before trying to attack through their mental link once again. Syaoran seemed to have gotten the same idea as her, for the man actually staggered back a couple of steps this time. Sakura let up on the attack long enough to follow after him, channeling her magic into her knives as Syaoran moved in from the other side. Something must still have been attacking the Bat Lord's mind for he kept on screaming, the sword slipping from his grip altogether as he collapsed on his knees, the previously-protective magic now turning on him in a visibly physical attack as Sakura sank her knives through his throat at the same time that Syaoran gutted him with his sword. Though they pulled their blades out almost immediately, blue magic continued to tear him apart. It was almost painful to watch as Yuui and Fai's magic ripped into him but Sakura let it be, for she knew the man deserved every shred of pain he got. She did not realize she had been trembling until Syaoran put his arm around her shoulders and pulled her to his side, holding her firmly against him as he kept his gaze fixed on the pathetic heap writhing on the floor until the magic finally let the bastard die.

**_A/N: I did try to make the fight as clear as possible but if there is anything that you guys find confusing, feel free to point it out or ask me in a review and I'll do my best to include a small explanation in the final chapter and if that is not possible, then I'll add it in the author's note at the beginning. Once again, a big thank you for sticking with me this long. I hope you enjoyed the update. _**


	49. The Nightmare Ends

Sakura wasn't quite sure who was supporting whom and who was leaning on the other for support, but she knew she would never have been able to stagger her way back to where they had left all their friends without Syaoran's help. Exhaustion had hit both of them like a ton of bricks the minute they realized that Fei Wang was truly dead. The adrenaline completely vanished from her bloodstream, leaving her a panting, shuddering mess but even so, she knew she could not wait around to catch her breath. Even with their master dead, Fei Wang's troops were still out there fighting against the rebels and until they received word of their surrender, there wasn't time for them to relax. So, despite their protesting muscles, they still managed to somehow find their way back to where everyone else was.

Meilin was only beginning to stir as they clambered over the scorched rocks that littered the now nearly-destroyed hallway of the palace, the doors of the once grand ball room barely hanging by the hinges, resembling boards of charcoal more than elegant pieces of wood. Her gaze skimmed over the damage as she searched around for survivors, noting Touya and Yukito kneeling next to Meilin. Her heart skipped a beat as she realized she could not spot Kurogane or Tomoyo, but her fears were squashed away when she heard the captain's voice.

"Alright, you dumb blond, enough is enough now!" His growl came from somewhere on the other side of the destroyed ballroom doors, "get out of those wires already. We can't just sit around waiting for you to haul your ass out of there, so hurry the hell up."

"Sakura!" she was enveloped in a bone-crushing hug as soon as she managed to find stable ground. Syaoran let go of her to slowly approach his cousin, leaving Touya to fuss over her. Keeping an eye on the brunette, she let her brother scold for a moment or two before her attention was once again drawn to Kurogane's somewhat shaky voice.

"Damn it, Fai, this isn't funny anymore." She heard him yell, a little surprised to hear him use the pilot's name. She suddenly became aware of the lack of magic in the air. Where there had been a near-suffocating excess of it in these hallways before, there was nothing left. Dread slowly tightened its claws around her heart as she let go of Touya to stagger over to the ballroom. Fai's body was still suspended from the wires that attached him to the mainframe, though she could see Kurogane and Tomoyo working to cut them off wherever they could. Knowing she was tired enough to keel over any moment, Sakura still summoned her knives to help get the blond out, trying not to think about the man's disconcerting lack of response to the captain's words.

The others soon joined in, ignoring the pains of their own bodies as they all tried to free the blond. Kurogane was the one to catch him as the last of the wires gave way and Fai fell to the ground. He stumbled under the limp weight for a couple seconds before he carefully laid him out on the bloodstained floor.

"He won't wake up." Syaoran murmured softly. She bit her lip, watching as Tomoyo moved in to check the blond for a pulse, first at his wrist before pressing two fingers to his neck. Sakura could see the emotions flickering through the medic's eyes even as she removed her hand and pressed her ear to the blond's chest. The lack of magic surrounding Fai and Syaoran's words had already tipped her off to what had happened, but she still wasn't quite prepared to hear it when Tomoyo sat up to look at Kurogane with tears flowing down her pale cheeks. Something inside Sakura cracked at that moment.

"No," The captain shook his head, staring down at the unmoving body with something akin to horror as he grabbed Fai by the shoulders, shaking the man desperately, "No! I haven't beaten the crap out of you for all the shit you put us through yet. You do _not_ get to get out of that so easily!"

"Kurogane…" Tomoyo whispered shakily, laying a restraining hand on the captain's arm, the latter meeting the medic's gaze at the sound of her soft voice, "he's…"

"No!" Kurogane roared, glowering down at the corpse he held in his hands, "you think playing the martyr will make me forgive you for what you did to the kid?" Despite the antagonistic relationship Sakura had witnessed between the captain and pilot of _Little Wolf_, Sakura knew the blond had been an important part of the tiny ship's crew, just as he had become an important figure in her own life in the short amount of time she had known him. She wasn't even aware of her own tears until her brother moved in to hold her in a comforting hug. Syaoran squeezed her hand for a couple of seconds before letting go to kneel next to his adoptive family. "Open your eyes and face me like a _man,_ you coward!"

Sakura decided not to take note of the wetness in the captain's eyes as he finally let go of the pilot, pulling a sobbing Tomoyo to his chest as Syaoran carefully began to extract the few wires that were still embedded in the blonde's body. Sakura wasn't sure how she knew it, but thinking back to how the blond had fallen silent right after Syaoran had gotten his soul back, she concluded that the spell Fai had cast through Sakura to restore the brunette's soul must have been what did the blond in. The human body had a limit to the amount of magic it could safely transmit through itself without causing a burn out, a fatal side effect of conducting magic that far exceeded the safe limit of the human body. The spell Fai had cast must have crossed over that threshold. But that didn't quite explain how he had helped them in their fight against Fei Wang Reed…

Maybe it hadn't really been Fai himself that had done that, but just an imprint of him, sustained by the remnants of the mainframe he had been attached to at the time of his death. His magic had become one with that of his twin, the very last of his thoughts so focused on helping them stop Fei Wang that it had become bound to his will even beyond death, remaining there long enough to fulfill his last wish before fading out of existence. She had known his brother, she could remember the way Fai had looked at her all those cycles ago when he had helped her escape, and now Yuui had done the same, sacrificing his life in hopes of making right the wrongs the twins had once been forced to commit. Sakura was grateful for her brother's strong grip around her waist when she allowed herself a moment of weakness to mourn the blond's death, burying her face in her brother's ruined hunter uniform. She did not notice Yukito and Meilin stepping out of the ballroom to give them room a little privacy.

-0-

Within an hour of Fei Wang's death, hunters still loyal to the Bat Lord's cause were surrendering themselves to the rebel forces, Meilin taking control of the situation despite her injuries, Masooma, Touya and Yukito helping her direct the magicians all over Hong Kong. Fai's corpse was moved to a quieter and relatively still-intact part of the palace, while Kurogane and Tomoyo threw themselves into securing prisoners with Sakura and Syaoran. Within twenty-four hours of Fei Wang's fall, the entire planet was liberated and brought under the control of the rebels. Sakura was pleasantly surprised to notice the cursed tattoos that marked her skin had faded away to dark smudges which were slowly but steadily growing lighter.

Sakura was the one to contact Yuuko on Infinity to deliver the good news, not really surprised to discover the wine-eyed woman had already begun the movement of her own vast network of spies to get various factions of magicians and some non-magicians as well to start revolts all over the galaxy. Fei Wang's vast empire continued crumbling in on itself as various lesser lords tried to take over their respective planets in hopes of filling in the power vacuum, managing with only varying degrees of success.

A mass funeral and memorial service was held for all those who lost their lives during the rebellion in the Royal Gardens on the third day, though at Syaoran's request, a very small service was held for Fai near sunset that day. Despite having lived with them for quite a while, the captain and his fiancé had not really known much about the blond's personal life. As such, they had had no idea about what to do with the pilot's body until Chii – who had travelled to Hong Kong upon hearing about the death of her last family member- shared that they burnt their dead. The blond hacker had been heartbroken at the news but she had managed to not lose her composure at all within Sakura's sight, though she suspected Chii must have cried in the privacy of her room after the funeral. Kurogane was only one who stayed by the funeral pyre until the embers faded out. Sakura had escaped with Touya and Yukito as soon as possible to run errands around the capital while Syaoran had been roped into doing one thing or another with Meilin. The red-eyed hunter had taken over as the liberated planet's ruler, being one of the remaining Lis after Syaoran had refused the position. No one really knew where Tomoyo had vanished off to.

-0-

A week after the rebellion, Touya began to notice Sakura's restlessness. Clow was one of the planets still struggling to overthrow Fei Wang's generals, and as much as the hunter wanted to enjoy his freedom over no longer having to conceal who he was or hide his magic, he knew that, as the crown prince of the previously ruling family of Clow, it was his duty to liberate his homeworld. A discussion with Sakura revealed her feelings to be the same on that matter. Yukito and Meilin ended up being in agreement with the princess as well, finalizing the decision for the ex-crown prince. A week after Hong Kong was liberated, marking the beginning of the Civil War that had broken out all over the galaxy, Touya decided it was high time to return to his home and lead his people to freedom.

The small respite had been enough for the prince to conclude that even getting his own people to place their trust in him after having masqueraded around so long as a lowly grunt in the hunter taskforce would be a mammoth task, but he wasn't about to shy away from the challenge simply because of the seeming impossibility of it. He had, after all, found his Kaijuu again, despite the odds having been stacked against him. So it was with these things in his mind that he approached Meilin in her private quarters late that night. The ship he had stolen had been destroyed in the crash landing on Clow and the remaining Mokona had been reclaimed by the witch Yuuko when she had accompanied the blond techie to attend her cousin's funeral. Touya shuddered involuntarily as remembered the lecture he had gotten from the vengeful Yuuko on the destruction of that brilliant ship because, apparently, that Mokona had been stolen from her by the Ryanban, effectively making both those ships her property. One of which Touya had thoughtlessly destroyed beyond all hope, she had not failed to continuously remind him. She had only let him go after she had extracted a promise of having an entire city on Clow named in her honor once they had liberated it. He still wasn't sure how she had done it, but he _could_ recall Sakura stepping in when Yuuko had begun making some _very_ dangerous threats about taking away his ability to procreate.

"Touya," the red-eyed hunter exclaimed in surprise as she came to the door, a small smile pulling her lips upwards prettily as she stepped aside to let him in, "it's a little late to be paying me a visit, some would say."

"I couldn't sleep," he admitted, hearing her close the door behind them.

"I could think of a few things that might help," she chuckled, trailing her fingers lightly over his arm, sending a pleasant tingle through his body.

"I've been talking with Yuki and Sakura," he blurted out, kicking himself as she immediately pulled away.

"I might have an idea why you came to see me, in that case," she murmured softly, her whole demeanor changing as she led the way to the balcony adjoining her room."You're going back to Clow." It wasn't a question.

"I need a ship." He admitted, coming to stand by her side as she gazed out into the darkness. "One of the fastest available here, if possible. Size doesn't matter much, but a smaller one would be ideal."

"I was dreading this moment, even though I knew it was inevitable and that you'd come to me for it sooner or later," she told him sadly. "But I can understand why you're doing it. Kurogane asked for a ship as well today. Syaoran has gotten it into his head to help free Clow too, you know. I knew you wouldn't be too far behind."

"The brat isn't staying?" he asked, a little surprised at the brunette's choice. Why would he not want to stay and rule what was rightfully his?

"He considers those two his family, and they're not staying."She told him, sounding sadder then she looked. "He's stepped down in favor of me, although…I'm not sure if that's such a smart idea."

"The brat is more of a soldier then a ruler, so it makes sense."He nodded, studying her a little more closely, subconsciously noting the way moonlight seemed to highlight her features.

"The same can be said for Sakura," she pointed out quietly.

Touya opened his mouth to argue otherwise, but seeing the look on her face, so tired and resigned, as though she had aged several cycles within the span of a week, made him think better of it. After all, what she said wasn't so far from the truth.

"I know…" he finally admitted with a dejected sigh as he averted his gaze.

"Well, on the bright side," she spoke up, making an attempt at sounding cheerful, "she won't be running away from you anytime soon. Maybe now you can finally deal with your over-protective elder brother complex."

"I do _not_ have a complex." He shot back hotly.

"Whatever you say, Tou-ya" she teased, genuinely chuckling at his response and Touya found himself thinking how nice her laughter sounded. Before he could find something appropriate to say in response, however, a somber mood once again surrounded them. Seconds ticked by in silence, interrupted only by the chirruping crickets as a breeze blew up to them on the balcony.

"I have had the fastest ships prepared for you and Kurogane." Meilin finally broke the silence. "It's a pair of top-of-the-line hunter warships. Got the latest hyper-drive and a sweet set of laser canons with enough fire power to fill any opposing ships with holes before the other guy even has a chance to power up. Sakura loves them already."

"The Kaijuu has seen the ships before I even asked you about it?" he couldn't keep the indignation out of his voice as he turned back to look at her smirking face.

"Like I said, I knew you would be coming to ask me sooner or later." She replied nonchalantly, "I took Sakura down to the station to see if she liked something. Apparently, it was love at first sight." She added slyly.

"Do me a favor and remind me never to leave you two alone ever again," he groaned, dragging the palm of his hand down his face in exasperation. "The last thing I need is for the two of you ganging up against me with some harebrained scheme."

"I make no promises," Meilin replied with another chuckle.

-0-

Sakura stood near the viewing bay, her fingers entwined with Syaoran's as they both looked out at the quickly-distancing planet. Hong Kong was, in a matter of seconds, nothing more than a blip amongst the stars as the ship powered into hyper-drive.

She suppressed a giggle as she thought back to the look on her brother's face when she had announced her decision to travel to Clow with Syaoran instead of him and Yukito on the ship that currently travelled neck-and-neck with them through hyper-space. Touya had pitched quite a fit over that, only fueling Meilin's teasing about his brother complex all the way up until their departure, where he had finally declared that she could travel with the brat if only to prove he had no complex. She had flashed the red-eyed woman a grateful smile before boarding with Syaoran, wondering how much Touya would swear when he realized he had been had.

Her attention was soon drawn away from the viewing window when Syaoran gently tugged at her hand, pulling her along the narrow hallway-like viewing bay that connected the ship's rear end to the cockpit. She marveled at the ship's sleek design, wondering how it would ever compare to the homey feeling that had radiated from every nook and cranny of _Little Wolf_ but figured that with time, Tomoyo and Kurogane would manage to make this feel just the same.

"I knew I shouldn't have listened to the kid," she heard Kurogane swear as they neared the cockpit's entrance, "do you even _know_ what the hell you're doing, witch?"

"That's not a very polite way to address a lady, let alone your pilot, you know," she heard a clearly-amused female voice reply to the captain, "besides, shouldn't you have checked that _before_ you let me take control of the ship?" Hearing Kurogane's resulting growl, the woman merely laughed. "Relax, Captain Hothead, I know _exactly_ what I'm doing." And then in an undertone she had clearly intended for the man to hear she added, "I think."

Next to her, Syaoran laughed at Kurogane's even more violent cursing when the ship swerved and did a loop-de-loop. Sakura suppressed a surprised yelp as she was knocked into the brunette, landing on the platform on top of him in a somewhat compromising position.

"Get a room, you two," the captain came stomping towards them with all the righteous fury of a puppy on a rampage as he stopped to glower at the duo on the floor for a moment before turning his glare at the witch in the pilot's seat, "and you! If we get killed, I'm blaming you." And then he was gone.

"Don't worry, Masooma," Syaoran spoke up in a serious manner as he helped Sakura to her feet, "in the beginning, he treated Fai that way too."

"Don't worry, squirt, I'm not taking it personally," the witch replied with a tiny laugh, "thank you for talking him into hiring me for this trip, by the way. I really needed to get away from Hong Kong."

"If a war is what you were trying to get away from, is going to Clow really a smart option?" Sakura wondered as she followed Syaoran inside and came to lean against the copilot's currently-deactivated control console.

"I'm not running away from war," the pilot replied with a shake of her head, "I just wanted to get away from that place is all."

"So you won't be too opposed to the idea of piloting another one of these babies, perhaps?" she asked carefully, studying the witch's face closely.

"Are you offering me a job aboard _Fai?_" Masooma quirked a brow.

"Well, Touya and Yukito are planning on forming a rebellion base at Clow once we get there." She replied, "Which means I'll have _Fai_ all to myself. Running a ship that big by myself will be quite a chore. And seeing as Kurogane isn't really looking for anyone to take over their pilot's spot anytime soon-"

"He wants to learn how to pilot the ship on his own," Syaoran interjected suddenly. "Said he doesn't want to deal with idiotic pilots anymore. But he won't say that he can't picture anyone else in _his_ seat."

"I guess Captain Hothead's got a heart in there after all," Masooma nodded before turning her attention to Sakura, "alright, count me in."

Sakura and Syaoran had both received the warships as gifts from Meilin, though for the journey back to Clow, Sakura had lent her ship _Fai_ to Touya, opting to travel with Syaoran on _Yuui's_ maiden voyage. _Yuui_ and _Fai_ would one day in the not-so-distant future be dubbed as _The Twins of Misfortune_, the deadliest duo of battleships in the entire galaxy, paving the way to victory for the resistance in many battles to come. But that day was still somewhere in the future. For now, they were just _Fai_ and _Yuui_.

Sakura looked out of a view screen as the ship gave a slight jolt, a clear sign of its preparation to exit hyper-space before giving a near-inaudible boom as they appeared inside the inky blackness of space just a little ways off from Clow's three moons. She could already see the magnetic energies flare in graceful-yet-deadly arcs around the moons in the distance, her fingers reaching out to touch Syaoran's hand as Masooma began adjusting the ship's flight trajectory, making adjustments to get past the security measures installed on Clow undetected.

The brunette touched her hand and laced his fingers through hers once again, pulling her close to his side with a tiny smile. The battle in Hong Kong had only been one front of a multi-faceted war. Regaining control over Clow would be just one other front and though the odds were stacked up against them, she returned Syaoran's smile, knowing deep within her heart that in the end, things would turn out just fine.

**_A/N: I feel I'm getting a bit redundant saying how it's been nearly three years since I first started out on this fic and now it's finally done. A big thank you to everyone who's stuck by my side since the very beginning and to everyone else who followed me over time. You guys are awesome. _**

**_Now with that out of the way, I suppose it's high time I start looking for places to hide because I know a couple of someones who might not be very pleased with me killing off Fai. But it was a necessary death. I mean, can you imagine anyone surviving after all that blood loss? Not to mention channeling so much magic. So yeah… he's dead. But at least he can be with his brother now. _**

**_Moving on to the next bit, I know people had probably been hoping for a more conclusive ending with lots of happy reunions and stuff but seeing as I didn't want to just go off on a tangent from the mood set by the rest of the fic, this was the closest I could get to a happy ending. Besides, an empire as vast as Fei's was made out to be, it would have been impossible for them to just kill the bad guy and have a happy ending. He had to have had generals and other minions running all those other planets for him. So now with him out of the way, they'd all try to rise up and fill in the power vacuum created by his death. I think even getting Hong Kong liberated so quickly was pushing their luck but let's just pretend Meilin had a _****very****_ extensive network of rebels all over that world to help them do it so quickly. Okay so this might leave some of you hoping for a possible sequel but I'm afraid I have to say there won't be one. My beta insists that she can see me coming back to this verse for oneshots and stuff and I think that's as far as you will get about seeing these guys again. I might do oneshots or drabbles based on different scenes from everyone else's point of views and wrap up the few loose ends left here though I'd still appreciate it if you guys can suggest what you'd like to the drabbles on in your reviews._**

**_Oh and they named their ships to honor our favorite twins. I think Sakura and Syaoran would have insisted on naming the ships after those two considering how much Fai and Yuui had done for them. But anyways, seeing as this was the very last chapter not counting any possible future oneshots that might be added after this (so it might be a good idea to keep this story on your alerts list for that) I would love to hear what you guys have to say. Drop me your reviews and tell me what you think. ;)_**


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